The Chimera Girl: Book 2
by TheCastleOfLionsAndPaladins
Summary: If one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must first be lost. That is the Law of Equivalent Exchange. I lost something valuable to me years ago and it feels like I'm still losing; but with the Elrics in my life things don't get too bad. I just hope the good times last. (OC story, Fem!Ed, Brotherhood/2003 cross-over, lots of pairings lightly mentioned)
1. Arrival in Liore

_Alchemy. The Science of Understanding, Deconstructing and Reconstructing. It is based on the law of Equivalent Exchange: if one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be lost._

 _Alchemy is not an all-powerful art, though._

 _While it can turn lead into gold, or combine a human and an animal into one body, Alchemy has one major taboo: Human Transmutation. The act of attempting to bring someone back from the dead. And any who commit this taboo, will pay for it with their body and life because nothing in this would could ever equal the value of a human soul._

 _But, while most who committed the taboo will either perish on the spot or live their lives as nothing more than broken or maddened people, there were 2 brave souls who promised one another they would mend their mistake and get back the pieces of themselves they lost to the other side._

 _They are the legendary Elric Brothers, the Fullmetal Alchemist and his brother, as far as the world knows._

 _But to a select few, they are Alphonse; a brave and kind boy with a heart of gold encased in an empty suit of armour, and Edward; a hot-tempered and foul-mouthed girl with a Robin Hood kind of life philosophy and a will stronger then steel._

 _And this is my journey with them, as their companion and friend._

* * *

A young girl panted as she trudged tiredly, dragging her feet through the soldering hot sand. She felt like her hair was malting off of her due to the unbearable heat of the Eastern Desert. That was to be expected, it wasn't called a desert for nothing, but come on! Did it really have to be so freakishly hot?! There was such a thing as a cold desert, people!

"I…" The girl, dehydrated as she was, managed a mumbled, "I can't take it anymore." Before collapsing in the sand, uncaring for the grains that now covered her cloths.

As she silently cursed two particular 'brothers' in her mind, a pair of figures approached her.

"Celly?" The shorter of the figures called, golden hair/eyes shining, tanned skin gleaming, red and black clothing bold against the blue and yellow background of the world around them.

The other figure, tall and in full on armour with only a loincloth to accommodate the outfit, suggested, "I think she needs some water and fast, Sister."

The figure called 'Sister' sighed, "I hate it when this happens. Damn it, Al, why didn't we think to bring some food or water for any of us?"

The suit of armour, or rather called 'Al' by the 'Sister', sighed, "Because you'd have eaten it all while we were in the taxi, Ed."

'Ed' snapped, "Hey, I wouldn't have done that!"

The girl on the ground, 'Celly', groaned, "Alphonse, Edward, do your dear old friend Celina a favor and carry her to Liore won't you? I'm nearly ready to pass out right now."

"But my armour is probably hotter than the sand and we both know Edward can't carry you; she's too short." Alphonse stated the obvious.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING TOO TINY TO CARRY A 11 YEAR OLD BRAT ON HER BACK BECAUSE SHE'S SHORTER THEN A FUCKING 4 YEAR OLD?!" Edward exploded.

Celina groaned as she forced herself to her feet, muttering under her breath, "The one time I need 'em, they're useless as fuck."

"What was that, Tucker?!" Edward snarled, glaring at the 'only' female in the group.

"Fuck off, Elric, you're useless right now and I don't want to hear another short rant from you." Celina hissed back.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING TOO SHORT TO GET HER OPINION HEARD BY FUCKING MUSTANG BECAUSE SHE'S TOO FUCKING TINY TO EVEN BE AT THE COLONEL BASTARD'S ANKLE?!"

"I didn't call you any of that, you fucking idiot, do you have a hearing problem or something?! And why bring Mustang into this, or has he really been on your mind that much lately, Ed?"

"Wh-wh-what- WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ARE YOU IMPLYING?!"

"Trust me, you don't wanna know, shrimp."

"LITTLE SHITTY BRATTY KID!"

"PINT-SIZED PEA-BRIAN!"

And the insults dragged on as they walked to Liore, Alphonse occasionally sinking into the sand, his armour finding it difficult to keep level with it.

* * *

After a while of walking, the party of 3 were in a town with 2 and 3 story buildings with shutter windows, statues of a man with an incredibly long beard holding a staff that had a sun-like monument on the end of it. All the people had dark tanned skin, dark brown hair and seemed to be surprisingly happy with their lives out in the Easter Frontier Town... despite the incredibly strong and disgusting smell of wine that filled the air and made Celina want to puke.

Curse her sensitive nose. This just furthered to piss her off even more… just as it did her blonde-haired companion.

"Brother, are you okay?" Alphonse asked, concern in his 10-year-old voice, going back to the way things were now that they were in society.

"I'm so thirsty…" Edward trailed off, sweating buckets.

"That makes two of us, Ed." Celina sighed, "God, what I wouldn't give for some water."

Then, the sound of running water entered their ears and the scent of wine got sickeningly strong.

"I think I'm gonna puke." Celina warned, holding her nose with her gloved hand.

Edward have very different things on her mind, "Water?"

She stared at a fountain and then cried in rejoice as she started running towards it, ignoring her younger brother's and friend's call, continuously chanting, "Water! Water! Water! Water! Water! Water! Water!"

However, when she got close enough to the fountain, after jumping in the air to land in the 'water', the blonde realized the smell she'd been smelling was coming from this fountain. And when she looked, it indeed wasn't water.

" _This_ is what I've been smelling all along?" Edward pouted.

Celina walked up to him, scoffing at the rotten smell of wine that made her puke internally, "If you think it's bad for you, how do you think I'm handling it?!"

Alphonse approached them with a shout of, "Brother! Celina!"

Celina sighed and looked towards Alphonse enviously, "Al, sometimes, I really wish I couldn't smell things as easily as I do. It's annoying and nauseating when all you can smell is wine all over the fucking town square."

Using one of the cups provided, Edward took a sample of the liquid that had Alphonse leaning closer in interest and Celina cursing herself.

"Blood?" Alphonse questioned.

Edward gave the drink a hopeless look, "More like blood-red wine."

"Hey, you!"

Edward felt someone tugging at her jacket and calling, "This is off limits to kids, you know!"

* * *

The old shop keeper, Joe, laughed when the group of travelers told him their story. He was so dumb!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! As travelers, you wouldn't have known that there was wine coming out of there would you?" Joe apologized, laughing lightly.

He was a middle-aged man with dark skin, a mustache and dark coloured eyes. The man was wearing a dark green tunic, white apron, brown hat and sandals.

Behind the travelers, a group of 3 children exclaimed in delight when they saw the armour sitting at the stool of a local café.

"Wow!"

"Look at that suit of armour!"

"It's huge!"

The golden haired/eyed boy with tanned skin drank from a glass of orange juice as Joe took in his appearance, "The town of Liore must be pretty prosperous, huh? Having a wine fountain and all?"

The boy was wearing black, leather, tight-fitting trousers, a brown, leather belt and a black tank top. Over said top, he wore a thin, high-collared jacket that fastened with a silver clip at his neck; the ends of the sleeves, hem and top of the jacket were silver. A hooded red coat that was long enough to reach his shins was over the outfit. The coat had a split and a single button on the top. On the back of the coat was the black image of a cross with a snake draped about it with detached wings and a crown above it; the boy had said it was a Flamel symbol. He wore black elevator boats and white gloves on his hands.

The boy beside him was wearing unnaturally wide, dark grey, 7-foot tall armour that covered him from head to toe. Around his waist was a grey loincloth and 3 spikes jutted out of the shoulders. On his left shoulder was another Flamel symbol, this time in red rather than black while the breast plate stuck outwards ridiculously. A protective guard sprouted around the neck and surrounded the helmet slightly, which had a very long, thin lock of feather white hair coming from it that reached his shins, a horn in the forehead and a zigzag mouth. The eye holes had white eyes in them, rimmed with red.

Finally, the only girl of the small band of travelers seemed to be the most unusually dressed of the 3. She wore a denim-coloured beanie hat over her head with slight points at the top that looked like cat ears. Her white shirt was covered in pictures of an animal that looked like some kind of dog; the girl had stated it was a Thylacine. Denim blue jeans and a pair of black trainers with silver markings and laces adored her flower-half. Her ginger coloured hair with black highlights was worn in two pigtails below her cap, her pale skin was slowly turning tanned from being in the Eastern Desert and freckles a shade darker were appearing over her nose and cheeks while her incredibly dark brown eyes glinted with wisdom and youthfulness at the same time. On her hips was a black leather belt with two hand guns attached to each side of her hip and many packs of spare bullets were littered around the belt; when she had caught him staring at it, she'd shown him a military certified license that said she was both allowed to carry and use the weapon if she was threatened.

The girl scoffed at her companion's statement, "This place would be better off without it, Edward; it reeks here."

"Celina, that's rude." The armour boy scolded the girl.

"I don't care, Alphonse; my nose is practically begging me to cut it off right now." Celina scoffed back, taking a sip of her cranberry/raspberry juice and sighed in relief, "At least this stuff doesn't smell or taste like crap."

Joe decided to do himself a favor and ignore the strange girl and boy in armour, "Yeah, you might say that." A thought suddenly came to him as he remembered the time and turned the radio on, "Oh, almost forgot, gotta do this…"

The travelers watched in wonder as every other radio in the vicinity was also turned on to the same channel that played a mysterious and enchanting yet calming melody and everyone in the town stopped what they were doing and placed their hands together in a praying manner.

When the music stopped, a man's voice entered their ears, " _All of God's children, who live upon this land, pray in faith and ye shall be saved._ "

Instantly, Celina's face dropped to a mix of disgust and boredom while Edward's took on a look of confusion and discomfort.

The man continued, " _As the sun lights the day, so does the sun God Leto illuminate thy path and drawn out thy sorrows…_ "

"Well, that's freakish." Celina stated, glaring at the radio as if it had personally offended her.

"Wonder what the deal is…" Edward trailed off, turning back to his drink.

"Some kind of religious broad cast?" Alphonse offered, also turning back to rest his arms on the table.

Insulted for the lack of care these children showed his leader, but willing to let it slide, Joe put his hands on his hips and frowned at the trio, "As far as I'm concerned, I should be the one asking 'what the deal is' with you guys."

Joe was ignored as Edward went back to his drink, taking a little nip of Celina's when she had turned her head. Alphonse didn't offer up an explanation either when Joe looked to him.

"We're just travelers, Sir." Celina offered and then smacked Edward's hand off her drink without looking at him, taking it back in her hand and sipping.

"Really?" Joe questioned, "Cause to me, you look like street performers or something."

Edward chocked on his drink and it splattered everywhere while Celina only continued to calmly drink her juice and Alphonse watched, "Now look here, Pops! Where the hell did you get that idea from?! Do I look like a clown to you?!"

Celina chuckled as she put her drink back down, making sure it was closer to Alphonse then it was to Edward, "Trust me, Ed, you only look like a clown when you **try** to put make up on your face. And as unoften as that is, it's still a very scary look for you."

Though Joe was confused with the comment that had Edward glaring at Celina, he wasn't going to lose focus and went to eyeing them suspiciously, "If you're not performers, then what are you doing all the way out here? You must have some reason."

Edward sighed and slumped slightly, "We're looking for something, that's all." He turned his head slightly towards the rest of the town, "So, what's the story with this guy on the radio?"

Joe's suspicion dropped a little, replaced by the pride of the town's Religious Father, "That's Father Cornello."

"Yeah, but, who is he?" Edward questioned.

"It doesn't ring a bell." Celina added, looking a little bit thoughtful before returning to her drink.

Joe was so shocked, he practically jumped out of his skin, "YOU'RE KIDDING ME! You've never heard of the great Father Cornello, the representative of the Sun God Leto?!"

Edward gave a grin that looked sheepish and shit eating at the same time, "No, so what's so great about him?"

"And how come it's always 'The Great blah, blah, blah' that people are called these days?" Celina questioned in a sassy and annoyed tone, "Why not 'The Magnificent' or 'The Gracious'? People, a little more originality please!"

The girl's stupid question was ignored in exchange for the towns' people praising their great profit.

"He can perform miracles for one thing, I've never seen anything like it."

"It's because of him that this place is so wealthy."

"This place was a God forsaken dust ball until Cornello came here and turned it into a desert paradise."

"Cornello can even forgive sins."

"He really is an incredible man!"

"Yeah, the works that man does are truly amazing!"

"We're on the Sun God's good side because of him, he gives us blessings now!"

Edward sighed, exasperated and covered his ears, "I just remembered, we have to be somewhere; somewhere that has some people who talk sense hopefully."

"Oh, shut up, Ed," Celina took another sip of her drink that was finally disappearing, "I'm not all that interested in religion myself, but if people wanna preach, let 'em. It's not doing any harm to anyone."

"Faith is a powerful thing, Celly." Edward stated, "You'd be surprised how many stupid decisions were made by men because of it."

A dark look crossed the girl's face, before it turned neutral, "We better get going then since you despise all this religious stuff so much, Edward-chan."

Edward glared at Celina, angrily for some reason, but then sighed and smiled towards his brother, "Shall we go, Al?"

"Yeah, okay." Alphonse nodded.

The trio stood up and Alphonse, unconscious of his height, accidentally slammed his metal head against the roof of the shop, causing the radio to fall and smash into tiny, little pieces.

"Al!" Celina yelled in shock, turning to her metal friend and checking him over, "Are you okay?!"

All was silent… until Alphonse brook it with a simple, "Oops."

Joe stared in shock at the precious radio that their Father's great words once flowed from, "Forget the Armour Boy, look at what you did to my radio! What do you expect to happen, wearing a stupid tin suit like that?!"

Celina gave him a very deadly and dark look, as if saying, 'One more word about that armour, and I'll cut your voice box out with a can-opener' that made Joe nearly shit himself.

Edward handled the situation much more calmly though, "Don't bust a long, Grandpa, we can fix it, no problem."

"How can you fix it? It's in a 1000 pieces!" Joe exclaimed.

It would take a miracle to fix that!

"I'm so sorry!" Alphonse apologized and turned to the remains of the radio, "Let me try fixing it."

"Sure." Edward agreed.

"It's not like I can do anything about it." Celina sighed.

Edward gave a shit eating grin, "So who's useless now, huh?"

Celina only proceeded to back hand his face.

Soon, Alphonse was at work, drawing a circle of chalk on the ground with several symbols inside and then placing all the parts of the radio in it.

"What's that?" Joe asked, looking at the circle in confusion.

Edward's smile didn't leave his face, "It's a transmutation circle."

Celina followed right up, "It's an incantation to get a wish granted. Right, Ed?"

The blonde snorted and the ginger/black haired girl smirked, as if it were a secret joke. Alphonse stood up, having finished his circle and after placing his hands one over the other, a shot of blue electricity shot to the radio and there was an explosion.

When the dust settled, the radio was good as new. And Cornello's voice could be heard once more on the radio, " _As the representative of the Sun God Leto, I pour out both mine and our lord's love onto thee always…_ "

The people of the Easter Frontier Town gasped in astonishment, "It really is a land of profits; your buddy can work miracles like Cornello."

Suddenly, Celina burst out laughing, "What country are you from old man? That's no miracle!"

Alphonse stepped closer, the fixed radio in his hands, "Edward and I are Alchemists. This wasn't done with God's hand or anything; it's science."

"We're the Elric Brothers. Not to brag or anything, but our reputation is fairly widespread." Edward stated as Alphonse placed the radio on the counter.

Celina chuckled next to them, "And I'm apparently their loyal friend, Celina Tucker, 'Wolf of the Elrics'. According to the papers, I follow them around like a lost puppy and protect them like a wolf; so I guess the title fits. Somewhat."

The towns' people started up again.

"Alchemists?"

"Elrics? Not familiar."

"Wolf? Who'd call you a wolf?"

"Then it wasn't a miracle?"

"I've never heard of any Alchemists living around these parts."

"Or wolves, for that matter."

"That's because we don't have any."

"I fix things for a living though, let me know if you need a job."

Edward gritted his teeth, feeling awkward while Celina sighed, "Now you know how I feel when people say 'never heard of you'."

"He doesn't need any work, that's Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist."

All heads turned towards the voice that was smooth as silk and dripping with temptation. The voice belonged to a woman with dark, dark blue, almost black hair with gentle and gorgeous waves, incredibly pale skin, a black upper-lip accompanied by a violet lower-lip and violet eyes. She was wearing a mucky grayish green cloak and when she raised her hand, you could see it was covered with a dark green glove.

The woman smiled at the trio with a certain glint in her eyes and her hand held in an arrogant/lady-like fashion, "He's been a celebrity around East and Central City since he passed the State Alchemist test at age 12. They say he's quite the child prodigy."

At first Edward only glared at the woman suspiciously, but then smirked at the brushes on his ego, but the joy did not last. Not when as soon as the word 'Fullmetal' entered everyone's ears, their eyes were on Alphonse.

"Incredible!"

"Wow, a real live famous person."

"Now I get it, you wear the armour because people call you Fullmetal!"

"Hey, would you come to my daughter's birthday party?"

"Are you really that famous? Really?"

Alphonse, not one to enjoy being in the center of attention when he didn't deserve it, raised his hands, "I'm not the Fullmetal Alchemist, he is."

Everyone turned their heads to said boy and someone made the worst mistake of his day.

"You mean that little shorty over there?"

A tick mark appeared on Edward's head and then, he was throwing a pair of men about, screaming off his head, "SHORTY?! COULD A SHORTY DO THIS?! WHAT ELSE DO YOU WANNA CALL ME: A HALF-PINT BEAN-SPROUT MIDGET?! I'M STILL GROWING YOU BACKWATER DESERT IDIOTS! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU'RE CALLING A BEAN SPROUT TOO TINY TO EVEN NOTICE?!"

"Nobody said anything like that!" The helpless victims of Edward's rage cried.

Joe sweat-dropped at the sight, "Should we be worried about them?"

Celina chuckled, "Oh, trust me Pops, you have nothing to fear, the worst they'll get is too dizzy to walk for 10 minutes. Besides, this is entertaining."

"I see there's plenty of excitement around here, today."

The chaos stopped for a moment as everyone turned their heads towards a girl who had just arrived on the scene. She had dark skin, dark chocolate coloured hair with pink coloured bangs framing her face and deep purple, sort of blue eyes that shone in kindness and friendship. She wore a simple yellow dress, a pair of sandals on her feet and in her arms was a paper bag of groceries.

"Oh, Rosé!" Joe greeted, glad to see his niece once more.

The girl gave a gentle smile to her uncle and then turned her attention to the 'brothers' who had stopped causing chaos and were instead staring at her, blinking in confusion.

She turned her head slightly, revealing greenish blue studs in her ears, "My, I haven't seen these folks before, but don't mind me, I'd hate to spoil all the fun."

"That's okay." Alphonse straightened up, "My name's Alphonse Elric." He gave a little bow to the girl about his own age and stood back up, "Nice to meet you."

Edward tossed aside the men he'd been throwing about and pointed at himself, grinning, "And I'm Edward, Al's older brother, also known as the Fullmetal Alchemist."

"Oh my, you're the older brother?" Rosé blinked lightly, "Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

Edward's face darkened at the hidden meaning of the comment and while Alphonse tried to keep him calm, Celina jumped in front of them and grinned, "And I'm Celina Tucker, 'Wolf of the Elrics' at your service!"

Joe chuckled slightly then turned to his darling niece, "You already done shopping for offerings, Rosé dear?"

Rosé's confusion gave way to a smile once more, "Why yes, Uncle Joe."

Joe turned his head back to the party of three, "Well then, why don't you take them to the Church of Leto? They say they're looking for something, so maybe God's Grace and Father Cornello could help them."

Alphonse had his hands raised in a gentle halting manner, "Oh no, that's okay, we don't really-"

But Rosé's gentle smile cut him off too quickly, "It's alright if you don't have an offering for the day, there are free pilgrimage's quarters there too so you could stay for the night, if you wanted."

As Alphonse continued to attempt a kind dismiss of the offering, Edward's contemplative look passed away like hot butter in a frying pan as he placed his hands on his hips, "Really? In that case, let's take them up on that offer, Al, Celly."

Alphonse blinked for a moment and looked to Edward in surprise, "O-okay?"

Celina shrugged and grinned, "I'm good as long as we get to eat and a place to sleep together."

Edward nodded and with that, the trio of travelers trailed after the local girl, all of the smiling among each other while Joe and the men gossiped.

"It sure is nice to see a smile on Rosé's face."

"Yeah, she has gotten a lot more cheerful now."

"She's beginning to act like her old self again."

"Her heart must be healing at last."

"And it's all thanks to the Minister. It truly is a miracle considering what's happened to her before."

No one noticed the dark-haired woman from before smirk knowingly before leaving.

* * *

The trio of travelers walked with the local resident, who was humming a happy tune.

Seeing Rosé was distracted, Edward decided begin a quiet conversation, "Hey, guys. Didn't that woman at the shop look familiar?"

Celina nodded in agreement, "It feels like I've smelt her around before, but I can't pinpoint where."

Alphonse disagreed with the girls, "I don't remember seeing her, maybe you two have though."

"You shouldn't worry."

They turned their heads towards Rosé, who was smiling towards them once again, "I'm sure Cornello will help you find what you're looking for." Edward and Celina offered smiles, but not much hope was in them, so Rosé continued, "And maybe if you pray enough, Leto will make you taller."

With her anger spiking once more, Edward chased after the giggling girl, screaming, "HEY, WHAT DID YOU SAY TO ME?!" while Alphonse and Celina chased after the pair of them.


	2. Letoism

**AN: Hey guys! Sorry I didn't explain this in chapter 1 but, better late than never. Anyway, you know how the pronouns addressing Edward changed from "She" to "He"? Well, since Joe the bartender didn't know Edward was a girl and it was sorta from his POV, he refers to Edward as male and so will anyone else who doesn't know Edward's little secret.**

 **It's good to see you all again, I'm so happy to have such great fans supporting me! I hope you like this next chapter. And if anyone has any, ideas for Brotherhood/2003 cross-over are still welcome because I need all the help I can get!**

* * *

 _Religion. It is an organized collection of beliefs, cultural systems, and world views that relate humanity to an order of existence. Many religions have narratives, symbols, and sacred histories that aim to explain the meaning of life, the origin of life, or the Universe._

 _Some religions are so far spread and impacted the world so much, they even effect the dating system like the long since dead Christianity religion that would use the terms BC (before Christ) and AC (after Christ) in their holy book called 'The Bible'._

 _Other religions are small like Letoism and only effect the people who follow them._

 _But no matter what, religion is a very dangerous thing. It can bring order and peace to groups of people who all follow it as one… and death and discrimination to those who refuse to believe it._

 _Wars have happened before because of religion and because people were too busy arguing about who created the world, they couldn't look past it and see the faces of the people who were destroying it until it was too late._

 _That was all I ever believed religion to be; a way to take control of faint-hearted people who were unable to think for themselves and make their own decisions._

 _But I could never hate someone for following a religion; nothing was wrong with that so long as you didn't try to hurt someone else because of it and that's what I've always believed._

 _Unfortunately for the people of Liore, all their great Father Cornello cared for was creating soldiers out of believers._

* * *

A few hours later, with the sun setting and the trio set up for the night, we have Edward looking out a window, seeing Rosé standing in front of a grave.

Alphonse and Celina walked up to also look out the window, the pair having recently heard of the kind girl's tragic tale.

"That must be the grave her boyfriend's resting in." Celina stated, seeing the posture Rosé made as she stood in front of the grave.

Shoulders hunched, head down, body slightly trembling… Celina knew that posture well from her own days of grief and mourning.

Alphonse filled Edward in, since she hadn't been around when they'd heard of what happened to him, "There was an accident about a year ago that took her boyfriend from her; he'd been all she'd had at the time. Her parents had died years ago. Rosé's convinced Cornello can bring him back to life for her."

Edward stared at her brother as he spoke and looked out the window at the end of it, "When all the while, there's no way to bring someone back from the dead."

"How very sad and tragic." Celina's solemnness was heavy in her words.

"They do appear to come back." Alphonse stated, making the girls turn their heads, "As the living are given immortal souls, so are the dead given resurrection. The testament is in the miracle works, or so they say."

Edward's scowl deepened as she turned back to the window, "Sounds fishy."

Celina also looked out the window and saw a large, bald man with white skin standing behind Rosé with a walking stick in his hands; he and the other man with him were wearing black Priest Robes.

The other man, one with black hair and dark skin, turned to glare at them, but the trio just shut their blinds.

* * *

The next day, in front of the church of Leto, Cornello was showing off his 'miraculous' works. He turned a half full glass of water into a full glass of wine and a block of wood to his knee-height into a statue of Leto.

Near the back of the crowd, Edward was standing on her suit case to get a better view while Celina had her arms wrapped around Alphonse's neck while his arms hooked under her legs to help keep her up.

"Well, boys, what do you think?" Celina questioned.

"Well it looks pretty obvious," Alphonse stated, "he's using Alchemy."

Edward had her chin in one of her gloved hands, "Yeah but still, something's wrong, there isn't any Equiva-"

"Hey, guys!"

The trio turned their heads to see Rosé walking towards them, smiling as always, but her main focus was the Holy Father, "What do you think of Father Cornello's miraculous works?"

"Hate to break it to you, Rosé," Celina began, "but that's no miracle."

"She's right, anyhow you look at it, that's Alchemy." Edward stated, "This Cornello guy is just a swindling bastard."

Rosé gasped in outrage, but Alphonse tried to make the blow a little gentler on her, "That's not entirely established, yet, Rosé. We just know he's ignoring the laws."

"The laws?" Rosé blinked in confusion.

Edward hopped off her suit case and Celina let go of Alphonse's neck, bending back so her hands touched the ground and then he let go of her legs, which flew over her hands and landed on the ground so she was crouching; Celina quickly stood back up and grabbed Edward's suit case to ensure it wasn't lost.

"Alchemy isn't the creation of something out of nothing." Edward explained, "It's a scientific technique, which obeys the laws of nature."

Alphonse also pitched in with the explanation, "You can only get something out of another thing of the same mass. It's like how I could only make a radio that was the same size as before. I couldn't make it a bigger radio or change it into a piece of paper, or a tree, or something."

Celina said the last bit, "That's how, if you want to obtain something, something of equal value must first be lost. That's the law of Equivalent Exchange, but somehow Cornello's not following up on it."

"That's what we've all been saying, it's not Alchemy, it's miracles!" Rosé yelled, insulted.

On the stage, a young girl showed Cornello a dead bird and with a touch of his hand, the bird was alive and flying once again. The crowd went as wild as they had before; but all Edward did was smirk, having realized what was going on.

"Can you bring about such a miracle using Alchemy?" Rosé demanded and her eyes watered with a smile, "And Cain will soon be…"

* * *

"The Elric Brothers and Wolf?"

Cornello sighed and began to explain things to his loyal right hand Cray, "I heard that the older brother received the title of State Alchemist when he was 12 years old and they call him the 'Fullmetal Alchemist'. The Wolf girl could fire a gun since she was 8 years old; she's apparently as skilled with weaponry as the Elric Brothers are with Alchemy."

Cray's face twisted in shock and disgust, "Those little brats are that dangerous?!"

"He's a dog of the military who's recruited a wolf from the wild to be his bodyguard." Cornello explained, "The military have cast their evil eyes upon our bountiful town and plans to intervene. We must protect my children from them, Cray."

Cray, like the little puppet he was, bowed his head and declared without fear, "I will carry out the will of God."

* * *

That night, in the Church of Leto, Rosé could be found scrubbing at the table were 4 candles sat.

"Just by serving God so dutifully, someone who is dead will come back at some point?"

Edward's voice broke through the silence and Rosé frowned slightly, before turning back to the boy and offering a smile, "Yes, absolutely!"

Edward was sitting with his legs crossed and arms all over the back of the chair and frowning at her. He sighed and pulled a book out of his coat and started reading from it.

"Water; 35 litres. Carbon; 20 kilograms. Ammonia; 4 litres. Lime; 1.5 kilograms. Phosphorus; 800 grams. Salt; 250 grams. Saltpetre; 100 grams. Sulphur 80 grams. Fluorine; 7.5 grams. Iron; 5 grams. Silicon; 3 grams. And trace amounts of 15 other elements." Edward recited, reading from the book but it looked like he knew it off by heart.

Rosé didn't know what any of that stuff was supposed to be, so she asked, "What's all that?"

Celina, who was sitting next to him sighed, "That's the chemical make-up of the average adult human body, right down to the last ounces of protein in your eye-lashes."

Edward closed the small hand book, "Even though science has helped us understand this, there has never been a reported case of bringing someone back from the dead. Scientists have been researching what's been missing in the equation for several centuries now. That's a lot more productive then just waiting and praying, isn't it? What makes you think some hack job priest with his parlour tricks will get you something that not even science could give you?"

Rosé glared at the blonde; how dare he call the Holy Father such an awful thing?

"And encase you're wondering," Celina said, looking at the young girl, "all those ingredients can be bought anywhere with the spare change in a kid's pocket. Doesn't matter how you look at it, really; humans are pretty cheaply made. It's no wonder we break so easily."

Rosé let her anger show, "Humans aren't things! How dare either of you talk such blasphemy in the Great Creator's home!"

"Depends on your opinion, Rosé." Celina stated, "I knew a man who once thought of humans as nothing but things; even his own daughters were nothing more than pawns to him that he'd use without fear or remorse in his experiments."

"And, just to let you know, Alchemists like me are Scientists," Edward explained, standing up and shoving his hands in his pocket like the arrogant being he was, "we don't believe in unprovable concepts like Gods or Creators." He walked up to the table she'd been cleaning and inspected the state of the great Leto behind it, "It's ironic since we are the closest beings to Gods that exist in this world."

Rosé glared, "You're not a God, you're nothing close to it."

"The sun isn't a God either, Rosé." Edward stated, looking up at the statue, "It's just a mass of hydrogen. Get close to it like Cornello claims and all you'll do is burn up."

Celina glared at the statue of the Great Creator, "I once read a story about a hero who was arrogant enough to believe he could touch the sun; he made wings of wax and tried to fly up. But when he got too close, his wings melted and he came crashing back down to earth. He was lucky he lived to tell his tale."

For a while, Rosé stood there, thinking about what they had said.

None of it made sense to the religious woman. A hero with wax wings? What did that have to do with anything? Humans being cheaply made? Impossible! We are all the precious sons and daughters of God, how could Celina believe anything but that?

BANG/CLANK!


	3. Those Who Challenge The Sun

**AN: Has any of my lovely readers played the Fullmetal Game "Fullmetal Alchemist and the Broken Angel"?**

 **Because I've been thinking of adding it into my story and writing about it only with Celina in it as well. Trouble is, I don't know the plot of the game at all and I can't find it anywhere.**

* * *

 _Automail. The short version of "automotive armored prostheses". Originally devised as a sort of motorized battle armour, Automail eventually became advanced enough to double as prosthetic body parts for amputees desiring something more versatile than normal prosthetic limbs._

 _Linked directly to the nervous system, an Automail prosthesis does not usually require an external energy source, and can be moved at will like a natural limb, taking electrical pulses from the nerves to power and regulate the various electric motors and pneumatic actuators inside. Automail limbs are generally made with a full steel skeletal frame layered with steel armour-plating to protect the various wires and intricate machinery inside; however, contemporary technological advancements have allowed certain Automail to be comprised of other materials such as carbon fiber, fiberglass, chrome, copper-nickel and aluminium alloys, so as to be less cumbersome and more durable than steel in abnormal conditions._

 _In this country of Amestris, which has been through hell and back every day with all the wars and rebellions happening left and right, Automail is popular here. Some soldiers even have Combat Automail installed so they can always have a weapon in their hands, literally. From cannons to knives, you can get anything installed in your Automail these days._

 _But the surgery is incredibly painful; you have to sit there, awake, while doctors attach each and every one of your nerves to a host piece of metal that is later then again attached to a new limb. This process is very painful and it takes 3 years for rehabilitation to finish. Some people have managed to recover and can use their Automail after just 1 year; but they were spitting blood the entire time. And there are rumors that some people can do it in only 6 months; but that's all they are, rumors._

 _And you have to constantly maintenance it so it stays in peak condition._

 _Automail is often considered a crazy idea by those who don't have the will to use it._

 _For those who do have Automail, it was most likely their only option._

* * *

Edward, Celina and Rosé whipped their heads around towards where they heard the noise to see Alphonse's metal head sailing through the air and the suit of armour crash to the flour through a door.

"ALPHONSE!" Celina cried in worry.

Out of that same door walked a man with dark skin, black hair, priest robes on his body and a gun in his hand.

"Brother Cray what are you doing?!" Rosé gasped, hands to her chest.

"They are enemies of God, Rosé, I am here to dispose of them!" Cray pointed the gun towards Edward and Celina while Rosé took a few good steps away from them, "This is his will, not mine!"

"I don't think so, mister."

Everyone gasped and turned around to see the suit of armour that Alphonse was wearing was empty, but still moving and talking!

Cray screamed and backed away, pointing his gun now at the suit of armour. Edward smirked and grabbed the helmet near his feet and threw it at the back of Cray's head. The metal smacked him hard and caused him to faint.

"I got it, I got it!" Alphonse ran around and caught his head in his arms.

"Alphonse, are you okay?!" Celina cried, running towards him and started checking for dents or something else probably.

Edward straightened up and grinned, fists on his hips, "Strike!"

Rosé screamed and looked at the suit of armour in shock, "He doesn't have a head!"

Edward gave a grin, as if everything in the world was alright and turned to his brother, "Yeah, that's Al for ya."

"Please don't be scared of me, Rosé." The moving armour pleaded, bowing and showing her the inside of it, "This is how I am."

The only problem is, that inside of the armour was empty, causing Rosé to become panicked, "You're not there."

Alphonse placed his helmet back on his head, "You could call this the punishment I got for stepping foot on holy ground, which as a person, I should never have encroached upon. Both me and my brother."

When she turned her head, Rosé saw Edward looking at the ground, half hiding his face, shame written on the half that was visible.

How was this possible? What the hell were they?! They couldn't be human, could they?

Rosé screamed as the frantic thoughts consumed her and she turned around, running for the basement stairs.

"Rosé!"

* * *

"Damn it, why do people get so afraid when they see Al's empty?" Celina demanded as she, Edward and Alphonse ran after the religious girl, "He's still human, doesn't matter what's on the outside!"

"We've got bigger things to worry about than that, Celina!" Edward called, leading the pack, "We gotta make sure she's okay. And hopefully when we find Cornello, we can beat him bloody."

Celina nodded, "Agreed. I'm thinking of taking the gloves of, Edward. Should I do it now?"

Edward scoffed, "I'm not your brother, Celina, make your own damn decisions."

"I just wanted a little approval, geez, is it that much to ask from you?!"

"When we're running after someone, yes!"

"Girls, calm down, please!" Alphonse cried.

"She started it!" Edward and Celina pointed at each other at the same time.

"And I'm gonna finish it if you don't start acting your age!" Alphonse threatened, "Besides, there's an open door there; I think Rosé might have gone inside!"

That shut them up and got them sprinting even harder.

They all ran through the door and stopped once inside, ready for action, in the dark room.

"I can't see a Church Social down here, can you?" Edward asked, glaring around the darkness.

Celina sniffed, "I can smell Rosé though."

The lights started turning on, revealing a large room made of stone bricks with a large set of stairs and a walk way in the back where Rosé was standing alone.

"There she is!" Edward cried, "Rosé!"

The trio were going to approach her when they saw a certain priest walking towards her, "You've wrestled with the darkness and prevailed, thank you for bringing them here, Rosé."

The other lights in the room turned on, revealing columns and what looked like graves. The trio snarled at the 'holy man' as he got closer to Rosé, a parrot on his shoulder and a walking stick in his hand.

Cornello turned towards them, smirking, "State Alchemist, brutal in forces, I had a feeling you'd come here someday."

Celina snarled, muttering under her breath, "Save the rhyming for later, you damned old goat!"

Edward put a fist to her hip and smirked, "Is that because you're a swindling bastard who deceives his followers? Or… is it because you possess the Philosopher's Stone?"

Cornello smirked and showed off the blood red ring on his hand, "You mean, this?"

Edward flinched, but then smirked slightly, "I knew it. Transmuting without a transmutation circle while disregarding the law of Equivalent Exchange. There could only be one answer."

"Quiet so." Cornello agreed, "The enchanted sorcery amplifier, said to only exist in legend: the Philosopher's Stone!"

Edward's smile took a slightly more predatory and desperate look, "I've been hunting for that."

Celina unhooked her right gun from her belt and prepared to fire it, remembering all the things her instructor had taught her, while Edward held out her hand, smirking, "I'll cut to the chase. Hand over the Philosopher's Stone! If you do that, I won't say a thing to anyone in town."

"If you don't, we'll have to use force." Celina added in, raising her weapon ready.

"You mean to deprive me of this?" Cornello asked, lightly amused, "If my miraculous works cease, what would happen to this town?"

The trio snarled.

Cornello sent his smile to Rosé, "Right, Rosé?"

Rosé's expression held horror in it.

"Don't listen to this guy, Rosé, he's just a conman!" Edward yelled, hoping her voice would reach the scared girl.

"Edward's right, Rosé, Cornello couldn't give less of a damn about you or your wish!" Celina added.

Cornello's forked tongue cut in, "Nonsense, would a conman restore life to a dying town? I created water and turned it into wine, built buildings and even gave money to the people. I am the representative of God! Do you plan to deprive the people in this city of their God? Is that how absolute the orders of the military are?"

"I don't care what the military wants!" Edward declared, loud and clear, "I'm here for me!"

"What?" Cornello questioned.

"I need that stone…" Edward's voice grew in volume, "WE NEED IT TO MAKE SOMETHING RIGHT AGAIN!"

Rosé's eyes widened in shock and her pupils shrank, "WHY?!"

The trio flinched under the girl's desperate cry.

"Why, even knowing it will rob us of our hope, are you still after it?" Rosé cried, her hands on the banister.

Alphonse didn't like making the girl upset, "Rosé, we-"

"Save it, Al!" Edward cut in, extending her hand in front of her little brother's body, "It's no use."

Rosés horror stricken face welled up with tears and she bowed her head; her body shaking with sobs.

"Enough! There is no point in arguing, if you want the Philosopher's Stone, you'll have to take it!" Cornello declared and the stone in his ring glowed red.

The ground glowed purple and suddenly, it turned to sand. There was an explosion in the sand and Alphonse got swept away.

"Brother! Celina!" He cried.

"Alphonse!" Celina and Edward screamed.

The two touched down and called, "Hold on!"

Cornello laughed malevolently, "Your trusty armour has turned against you in the soft sand and you can't draw transmutation circles in it either!"

The girls snarled at him, Celina yelling, "But I can still use my guns!"

She fired a shot in Cornello's direction but it narrowly missed his ear; he didn't stop smirking either.

He touched a secret button behind him, "Let me introduce you to one of my creations. You of all people will be able to appreciate this; a Chimera."

The sound of chains being released filled the room. In the darkness, two gleaming red eyes stared back at Celina and Edward and then a beast walked out from the cover of darkness. The beast looked like a grey lion but it's lower body was that of a featherless chicken and it sprouted a tail like a lizards.

The beast stalked towards the two; Celina looked deep into the fearsome animal's eyes and saw within them a great deal of pain.

"You combined animals, the most depraved kind of Alchemy there is?" Edward questioned, "Now that's just twisted."

"Maybe so," Cornello cried, "but most effective!"

The Chimera roared fiercely and started thundering towards the pair.

Edward prepared to clap her hands, but Celina's arm extended in front of her. The blonde saw the look in her friend's eyes; there was no arguing with her on this.

Edward sighed and took a few steps back, "I guess you're up, Celina."

Celina nodded only once before turning back to the charging Chimera, "Don't worry, brother of my. I'm here to help you. But first, the disguise needs to come off."

With that, Celina put her gun back on her hips, threw her hat and gloves off and lunged into the air the same time the Chimera lunged for her. They met half-way and tangled in the air before the Chimera landed on the ground with Celina on top of him.

And when the dust settled, Celina's true nature could be seen.

A stiff and stripy tail, one matching her hair, sprouted from her back side while on her head was a pair of thin ears with rounded points. Her nails were actually claws, long and pointed, like those of a predator.

"You don't have to be afraid and you don't have to listen to that man, my brother!" Celina cried desperately, "I can help you! I can make the pain better but you have to let me! Please, brother, let me help you!"

With each of her words, the Chimera slowly stopped struggling until he merely laid there on the ground, on his back, looking up at her in confusion. Celina's tears landed on the Chimera's thick fur and she wrapped her arms around his neck and started whispering soothing words to the Chimera, as if he were an innocent baby or a startled dog.

"Hush, hush, my brother in creation." Celina chanted, "You are not the first to feel this pain alone. But do not fear, for I am here. Please, just let me in."

The Chimera slowly started to calm down and began purring in the girl's arms, swishing it's tail lazily. Celina bet he hadn't felt this whole or at peace since he got that body; she'd been the same after all.

Cornello screamed in shocked and grabbed the parrot on his shoulder, sending it flying towards the pair of creatures, "Bring me their heads, my pet!"

Cornello's stone glowed and suddenly, the parrot was surrounded in red light and grew to 5 times it's original size. It flew towards Celina and the Chimera. Celina held the Chimera's head closer to her chest, protectively and glared at the approaching giant parrot.

"Edward, could you please show some heroics right now?" Celina requested.

"I'm on it!" Edward yelled.

She clapped her hands and slammed them on the sandy ground; there was a blast of dust and blue lightening as a spear rose from the sand and the sand disappeared in it's place.

"WHAT?!" Cornello yelled, "You transmuted without using a transmutation circle?!"

Edward held the spear she made in her hand and pointed it towards the approaching giant. The parrot grabbed at it with one of it's claws and snapped it in half as if it was nothing.

"EDWARD!" Celina cried.

The blonde tossed aside the broken spear and tried to jump back, only to get her left leg in the clutches of the parrot's talons. Edward yowled and Rosé's horror struck expression only deepened.

"EEEEEEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDWAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRDDDDDDDDD!" Celina screamed, standing up and leaving the Chimera she'd calmed down.

Cornello cackled, "Now snap it!"

Then Edward's thrown back head went back to it's original position, a smirk on her face, "Wrong leg, pal!"

And the claws of the parrot, instead of snapping Edward's leg, snapped themselves into splinters! The bird cried out and let go of the blonde's leg, her black leather pants torn.

"And here's the right arm!" Edward threw a punch at the parrot which sent it flying and then slamming into the sand near Cornello and Rosé.

Cornello's eyes widened in horror. Celina smirked as she stood next to a proud Edward.

ROAR!

Eyes widening in horror, the duo turned their heads in time to see the Chimera that Celina thought she'd calmed down lung for Edward, who pushed her out of the way with her left hand. Celina hit the ground hard as Edward's scream echoed in the room. Rosé's horror filled expression turned to the flour, not wanting to see this anymore. Cornello's demented expression faltered when he noticed something.

His Chimera was having trouble chewing on the girl's arm.

"What's the matter, you poor bastard?" Edward questioned, "Can't get a good taste?"

Edward lifted her arm and tossed the Chimera off it and then kicked him away for good measure with her left leg. The Chimera landed right beside the bird and Celina felt her heart pulse with sympathy for the poor things.

Cornello was scared to death, "That's impossible! How could his claws not have torn your leg apart?! Or his teeth rip your arms to shreds?! No one could survive that! Unless…" Cornello's eyes widened in realization, "Your limbs! They're fake!"

"Brilliant deduction." Edward growled out and started tearing her red coat off her.

Rosé covered her mouth with a fist when she saw Edward rip apart that gorgeous red jacket and the black one underneath it, "Oh God."

"Don't look away, Rosé! You need to see what happens why you try to bring a human to life!" Edward didn't let up on the tearing, "When you cross into a God's territory or whatever the hell it is! IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT?! LOOK!"

The red coat and black jacket, even some of the shirt were torn clean off her skin, revealing the metal appendage that reached all the way up to her shoulder and over that even.

Alphonse stood next to Celina, who had grabbed Alphonse's hand and squeezed it, as if trying to tell him that she was here, even if they were like this.

Rosé gasped as a horrified whisper left her mouth, "His arm… his leg… they're machines. Automail?"

Cornello's twisted expression and voice declared the truth that he had figured out, "I see. Now I understand you, Elric. You crossed the line, you did what was strictly forbidden. You tried to create human life and your bodies were taken to the other side."

Rosé's eyes widened as she remembered what the two had said earlier.

" _Get close to the sun and all you'll do is burn up."_

" _I once read a story about a hero who was arrogant enough to believe he could touch the sun; he made wings of wax and tried to fly up. But when he got too close, his wings melted and he came crashing back down to earth. He was lucky he lived to tell his tale."_

"Told you Rosé. Get too close to the sun and all you do is burn." Edward stated, her expression never changing.

Cornello's expression turned to a demented mixture of horror and amusement though, "Apparently so, but you were crazy enough to find out for yourselves. This explains why you have the title of Fullmetal."

Everything froze as Cornello finished:

"The Fullmetal Alchemist!"


	4. Body of the Sanctioned

_A Chimera. In Alchemy, Chimeras are creatures synthesized by alchemically 'marrying' two or more dissimilar living beings into a new, complete form displaying attributes of its 'components'._

 _Though a legitimate branch of bio-alchemy, chimeric research has seen very few significant strides in recorded history - or at least in Amestrian history - and has been described as a science built upon countless dead ends and false starts. Still, the production of such fantastical beings is possible with the proper alchemical expertise and skill._

 _As mutant beasts granted the traits of multiple species, standard Chimeras appear best suited for guard duty and are frequently positioned as such. Every time I've ever seen a Chimera outside of the Tucker estate it would be performing guard duties, it's body in eternal pain that took away it's mind and transformed it into a brainless creature of destruction._

 _While the synthesis of Chimera is an accepted, albeit rare and elusive branch of alchemy, the concept of extending its mutative hand to the realm of human characteristics and abilities falls under Human Transmutation and is therefore strictly banned as a practice under the authority of the military._

 _On the other hand, though there are alchemists who flout this decree and step across the threshold into monstrous experimentation, it has been publicly stated that all illicit attempts to create a human-animal hybrid have failed. This is untrue._

 _I, Celina Tucker, am a Human Chimera. I still remember when my 7-year-old body was combined with that of a Thylacine, a supposedly extinct animal, and my life has never been the same since._

 _I have to wear hats all the time so my ears aren't seen by the public and I needed to start wearing gloves since no matter how often I trimmed my nails, they would grow back and become claws very quickly. I also have to stuff my tail down my pants and that isn't very comfortable. Not to mention, I always have the fear of someone in the military deciding that studying me in a lab would be better than letting me roam free._

 _But I'm grateful for this body because I know there are others who were far worst of then me. Some didn't last long enough to see their final sunrise either. So I guess I'm one of the lucky ones._

* * *

Everyone stood incredibly still and tense after the declaration.

"I see, so that's it." Cornello mused, no longer looking worried or sweating; just a smug grin littered his face, "It's no longer any wonder why a kid like you should bear the stern sounding title of 'Fullmetal'. Rosé, alchemy forbids the transmutation of gold. At the same time, there is one practice that is even more taboo, and that is… Human Transmutation."

Rosé's lungs that were over-timing with gasps gave another one when the news registered in her mind. Alphonse and Edward stared down guiltily while Celina reached out and held both of their hands, not letting either of the brothers go.

"You miserable, foolish children!" Cornello laughed, "You dabbled in Human Transmutation without knowing it's penalties, didn't you? You stepped on the toes of God!"

"You don't know the story!" Alphonse cried, taking a step forward, "We-"

"Al." Edward snapped.

Alphonse remained silent and stared downwards, "We just wanted… We just wanted to see our mother's smiling face one more time."

"But you failed!" Cornello cried, smugly, "Didn't you?"

Celina's grip on their hands tightened, her fingers trembling as she held them as the brothers' bodies sagged downwards.

Then Edward spoke up, his voice thick with guilt, "Yeah, I'd label that a failure alright. My brother lost his body and I lost my right arm and left leg. I ignored every sign post because I was reckless and I wanted it bad enough. This is what happens when two people try to bring a human back to life. Rosé," Edward raised his fist and then clenched it near his face, "this is what it takes to bring someone back to life."

Rosé flinched.

"Are you prepared to go through with that?!" Edward demanded.

No. Yes. Rosé didn't know if she was or wasn't; she truly loved and missed Cain, she'd give up anything to see his face just one more time, but this…

She felt someone place their hand on her shoulder and she turned around to see the Holy Father giving her a gentle smile, "There is no need for concern, Rosé. You forget, I have received this Philosopher's Stone form the great Sun God Leto." He raised his hand and showed the red stone on his ring, "And besides, I am not inexperienced, the way these heretic boys were."

"Don't be stupid!" Celina snapped, glaring at Cornello, "There's no way some third rate like you could do what Ed and Al couldn't do! Hell, no Alchemist in the world could bring someone back form the dead, it's impossible! It doesn't matter what price you pay, when a human soul is gone, it can never come back to this world!"

Edward nodded, "She's right, Cornello! You'll only hurt yourself if you try it!"

"Then why do you want the Philosopher's Stone?" Cornello challenged, raising his hand and showing off the stone even more, "You think that if you had this, you could bring about your mother's transmutation, right?"

"Wrong again, baldy." Edward hissed, "All we want is to get our bodies back to normal again. Me, my Brother and hopefully Celina while we're at it. That is, if we can get them back in the first place. None of us lied about what was possible and started a cult either."

Cornello growled.

Alphonse raised his hand, "We'll ask you one more time: Please give us the Philosopher's Stone."

Cornello straightened up and smirked, "You are damned, State Alchemist, may the wrath of God befall upon your head."

"Stop hiding behind that crap!" Edward called, raising his metal fist and placing his human one on his hip, "I dare you to get down here, third-rate, so I can show you the difference in our strength!"

Rosé turned her head slightly and saw the jewel-no, the Philosopher's Stone-on Cornello's hand glow and suddenly, the Holy Father's walking stick was being transformed into a machine gun! Rosé took a good few fearful steps back.

The trio's eyes widened when they saw the flash behind Cornello.

"Wretched fools!" Cornello cried, taking the gun from behind him and pointing it at the travelers, "Die you sinners!"

Suddenly it started firing at them, little spots of yellow light constantly flashing and reflecting on Rosé's sweaty skin. Cornello eventually stopped and when he did, all that was there was a cloud of dust. And when that cleared, Cornello's eyes widened considerable, as did Rosé's.

* * *

A thick stone wall had risen out of the ground and Edward, Alphonse and Celina had hidden behind it so they could be protected from the gun-fire.

"That was close…" The blonde girl muttered.

"Edward," Celina called quietly, "are your bandages still in place. Have they gotten lose?"

"No, they don't feel lose. Is anything showing? Did I go over-board with the ripping thing?"

"Your skin-coloured binder is barely noticeable. And considering the distance Rosé and Cornello are, I highly doubt they would see it."

"I still need to make sure I get a new shirt after this, aren't I?"

"That would probably be safer if you still plan on being a male."

"Girls, can we worry about this when our lives aren't in danger?" Alphonse asked, his facial armour tainted pink, "It's kinda embarrassing."

"But our lives are in danger if anyone realizes Edward doesn't have a dick, Al, and you know it." Celina interrupted, "Besides, we talk about this all the time, why you get so embarrassed on the battle field is something I can't understand to be honest."

"Me either, but please girls…" Alphonse begged.

Celina huffed/sighed, "Fine, fine."

"MINISTER!"

Everyone turned their heads to the open door to find Cray and a bunch of other goons in priest uniforms standing outside.

"Why, you!" Cray pulled a gun out and began firing at Alphonse.

Alphonse stood in a protective stance while Celina pulled out her gun, "Hey, that's my friend you're shooting, asshole!"

Celina fired one pullet and it caught Cray in the ear, causing him to drop his gun and grab his ear.

"Guys!"

Alphonse and Celina turned their heads to see Edward making a break for it, "This way!"

The two followed after the eldest teen.

"You fools, there's only one way out!" Cornello cackled, "You're running into a dead end!"

Edward panted as she ran ahead of the group, "Well like I always say, if there's no way out…" She skidded to a halt, clapped her hands and placed them to the door, "you just have to make your own!"

There was a blast of lightening and suddenly, a piece of the wall turned into two large iron doors.

"What?" Cornello exclaimed.

"Later, losers!" Celina called, making a raspberry at the people of Liore as she ran out the door with Edward and Alphonse.

The trio ran down the corridors and as soon as they were out of sight and of hearing range, the girls stopped and panted.

"Great, we lost them, but," Edward panted, "I still need a new shirt."

"Not to worry, Ed." Celina panted and held out some red and black cloth, "I held onto your shirt and jacket after you dropped it. You can fix it with Alchemy, right?"

"Celina, have I told you how much I love you today?"

"No, but you can prove it when you get Al his body back so I can finally make you two that 3 course meal I promised to make."

"It's a done deal, Celly."

* * *

The full moon made the world around them glow blue as Edward, Celina and Alphonse sat near a statue of Leto, having finally gotten away from Cray and his men.

"Why did they treat us like we're evil?" Alphonse asked his female companions, "If we really wanted the stone at all costs, we would have taken it by now."

"Humans are creatures who jump to conclusions because they need the security of an idea in their heads so they can handle a situation properly, Alphonse, that's all there is to it." Celina explained, "Cornello created the image of us being evil so his mindless drones could go after us. That's all there is to it, really. Humans are really stupid, huh?"

With that, the Chimera girl burst into laughed.

"Oh please, you damn hypocrite," Edward playfully punched her shoulder, "as if you're any less human then me or Alphonse are?"

"True." Celina nodded, "Very true. But you guys aren't your everyday kind of kid on the block, either."

Edward sighed, "Guilty as charged."

The screeching sound of a microphone being turned on filled the area, causing Celina to howl it out and cover her ears in pain.

When it finally stopped, Cray's voice could be heard over the radio, " _People of Liore. This evening, a trio of unbelievers tried to take the life of the Great Prophet Cornello. One short and blonde, another wearing armour and a girl with ears and a tail like an animal. Father Cornello asks you all to stay in your homes, out of danger. He's much more worried about the safety of you all. Please, take all necessary precautions._ "

The trio of friends stood up and prepared for what was to come.

* * *

Rosé went out to see if she could find Edward, Alphonse and Celina as well. And she found them indeed; surrounded by nearly everyone in Liore.

"No question about it, that's them-the armour kid, the cat girl and the short blonde on-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CAT?! I'M A THYLACINE, YOU BLOODY INCOMPETENT BASTARD!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A SUPER-ULTRA-HYPER-MOUTHY-LITTLE-PIPSQUEAK?!"

"Shut up, you freak of nature! I don't care if you're an elephant, a mouse or a frog!"

"Nobody said that, now back off! Why don't you two just simmer down?"

"What kind of depraved souls are you? How could you go after the Prophet?"

"We welcomed you here, you made us believe you were good."

"Look lady, 1: we never told you we were good people, you just assumed that. And 2: that 'Great Prophet' of yours is nothing but a phony."

"She's right; his miracles are nothing more than Alchemy."

Rosé was tired of this heretic talk, "Liar."

People turned their heads and the crowd parted, allowing the girl who had her miracle happen see Edward, Alphonse and Celina standing down there, looking at her in surprise.

"Moments ago, my boyfriend spoke to me. Cronello's bringing him back." Rosé declared, glaring defiantly at the brothers and… what the hell was Celina anyway?

But while the trio seemed skeptic, the people of Liore were happy for her.

"You mean old Cain we lost in the accident?"

"Honey, that's terrific!"

"He was a good kid!"

"He's really come back to life? Finally."

"Good for you Rosé!"

The rosy and brown haired girl smiled; then the crowd started up again.

"There, ya see? And it's not just him, there's been plenty others who were brought back, too!"

"She's right!"

"If that's not a miracle, I don't know what is!"

Edward flinched, "Has anyone actually seen any of these people close up? Cause I heard they all left town as soon as they were brought back!"

Celina nodded, "And with all the parrots here, human voice imitations wouldn't be all that ha-"

"SILENCE!"

STOMP! STOMP!

Everyone turned their heads in wonder as several statues of the Great Creator Leto stepped forwards the travelers, Cray right behind them. The statues first began battering Alphonse and soon got to Edward and Celina.

Once the two were unconscious, they were taken away, along with Alphonse.


	5. The Prophet's True Agenda

**AN: Warnings, Celina may seem a little like a Mary Sue in this chapter and I am sorry for that; but I didn't really know what else to do for it. ^_^' Hope you can forgive me.**

* * *

 _A State Alchemist's Silver Pocket Watch. Upon receiving his (or secretly her) title, a State Alchemist is also given a silver pocket watch to hold as identification. This watch is engraved with the symbol of the State Alchemist program - the Amestrian Dragon circumscribed in a nondescript Polygram._

 _There are rumors that each pocket watch is an alchemical amplifier; but that is untrue and merely a hoax started up so our out-of-the-country enemies would think a State Alchemist helpless without his watch. Rumors also say that the watch's silver chain is extendable; this one is true thought, if one has the right knowledge to make the seemingly short chain much longer._

 _Ever since Tucker adopted me, I've been around Silver Pocket Watches all my life; I saw Tucker's on occasion, Edward's a lot and a few other State Alchemists that we've made friends out of. And each one is often very special to each State Alchemist in one way or another._

 _While you are in possession of the Watch, then you may do with it what you like. Most will use it to count the time, obviously, other Alchemists will use it as a weapon. Some will hide their own alchemical amplifiers they made in it and some Alchemists are said to write their deepest secrets on them before sealing them shut with Alchemy so no one can see them._

 _I only know of one Alchemist who has done the last one; only because I caught her in the act, but I didn't dare look at what could be hidden inside. I'd broken the trust she'd given me before and I wasn't going to do it again. Not to her or her brother._

 _I would never betray Ed and Al like I did when I was a kid. Never again._

* * *

Cornello smirked to himself; getting the Fullmetal Alchemist, the Wolf and the Brother was easy. Fullmetal was unconscious when he was brought in while Wolf was snarling and kicking; it got her repeatedly punched but she didn't stop. It was highly amusing… at first anyway.

"Me the fuck go of me you disgusting bastards!" Wolf howled, snarling at everyone around her, "Let me go, I'll bite your hands off if you don't!"

Just when he thought he couldn't take any more of that stupid girl's whining, Fullmetal began to stir.

"Edward!" Wolf stopped her struggling and turned her attention to her companion, "Are you okay?!"

"I feel like Al hit me in the head too hard," Fullmetal groaned, slowly lifting her head and looking around, "Damn it, I'm gonna hate churches so much when this is over; scratch that, I already do."

Cornello coughed into his hand to get the brats attention; the children stared at him and instantly, the girl was growling and the boy was glaring.

Their defiance was cute; in an annoying way.

Cornello chuckled when he saw the silver chain in the boy's pocket and pulled out the Silver Pocket Watch it was attacked to; he took a moment to admire the design and then snapped it off the chain.

The reaction was instantaneous.

"Give it back!" Fullmetal struggled, "Give that back!"

Wolf snarled and kicked frantically, "Let me go, give him that watch back, you fucking bastards! Give it back!"

Cornello laughed at their fruitless struggle and held the watch up so it could catch the candle light on it better, "So, this is the official pocket watch that proves proof of you being a State Alchemist, is it? It's the first time I've ever seen one of these up close. It's the reason you can do Alchemy without a transmutation circle, isn't it?" Cornello turned his eyes on the boy, "Because it's an amplifier, right? I'm sure you'll be quite harmless without it."

The boy and girl only snarled at him.

Cornello gave an evil chuckle; his plans were still set in stone and in motion. Nothing could stop him now.

Not even a State Alchemist.

The boy and girl lowered their heads in defeat and it made Cornello laugh even more; they were both so helpless now.

"Cray, tie them up in the same cell on the opposite walls of each other." Cornello ordered.

What Cornello never noticed though… was the smile Edward and Celina gave one another as they were taken away to their 'eternal' prison.

* * *

The next morning, after having their wrists chained above their heads, Edward and Celina woke to the sound of Rosé opening the door and bringing in some food; for who it was, no one knew or cared very much.

The pink and brown haired girl with a sad look on her face approached Edward with the bread and water on a tray in her hand first. The eldest Elric gave her a funny look, before smiling and opening her mouth wide.

"Great, you came to feed me!" She cried, wiggling on the spot to indicate her tied up arms, "And I thought you were mad."

"Hey, what about me?!" Celina cried, also struggling, "I'm all tied up too, ya know!"

"I'm the oldest, so I get to eat first." Edward explained as if she was talking to a child.

Celina then smirked, "Yeah, fossils like you need food more than youngsters like me; how are your old and cricket-y bones going to function without it?"

"Hey, I'm not that old!" Edward snapped.

"You may as well be, old man!" Celina smugly stated.

Edward and Celina chuckled at the end as the blonde opened her mouth like a snake; very widely as if her jaws were unhooking. Rosé didn't make a sound and merely placed the tray on the ground at Edward's feet, before standing and moving to sprint out of the room.

"I hope he's real, Rosé." Edward stated, "I hope that more than anything for your sake."

Celina spoke up, "We just don't want you to get disappointed."

Rosé's fists clenched and she raised her arms slightly, before jogging out of the room, slamming/locking the door behind her.

Celina sighed, "I hate chains; they scratch at my skin horribly."

Edward smirked, "Just one of the 'many' advantages of having Automail."

The Chimera scoffed, "Yeah right; you complain about them so much, it's a wonder you got the Automail in the first place."

The Alchemist turned her had to her food, "I'm going to ignore you in favor of attempting to eat."

Celina pouted, "Spoil sport."

Edward placed her metal leg behind the tray and brought it closer to her, ignoring as Celina muttered something about 'shorty brats with big appetites'.

GRUNCH! SCARTCH! GRUNCH!

The girls turned their heads to the wall behind Edward and their faces light up in smiles.

* * *

After disposing of that naive little girl Rosé, Cornello began heading for Fullmetal's and Wolf's chamber. He arrived shortly and opened the door, locking it behind him.

In the side wall, Wolf sat there like an idiot, snoring with a bubble coming out of her nose while Fullmetal sat there awake, scowling at him.

"Your flimflamming is going to be found out soon enough." Fullmetal threatened.

Cornello smirked; the boy was a fool, "The believers cannot tell the difference between Alchemy and Miracles. What does it matter to them so long as it makes them happy?"

Fullmetal scowled but then smirked, "So then, what's in it for you?"

Cornello grinned; the boy would be dead soon enough, why not tell him his ultimate plan?

* * *

"The basic principal of Alchemy is Equivalent Exchange." Alphonse stated, twiddling with two wires, "If you're trying to obtain something, something of equal value must first be lost."

"People say that Edward's a prodigy." Celina added, also playing with another set of radio equipment, "But that's only because he worked his ass off for that title and he still works his ass off for it now."

Celina handed Alphonse the piece she was working on as Rosé watched on in wonder. How had Alphonse survived those statues? And what was Celina doing here?

"How are you guys here? I saw the statues and you were locked up." Rosé questioned.

"Easy really." Alphonse stated, using Alchemy to finish his work, "Ed handled it. He made a fake suit of armour with some spare metal."

"As for me being here," Celina explained, grinning, "I made the illusion of me being there. I was there when you came in, but when Alphonse came to rescue me, thanks to some stuff he brought, while Edward made a sleeping dummy, I did the right adjustments to the room to make it look like the dummy was me. We did this so Cornello would think I was still in the room when he came in to dispose of Edward and me the same way he'd tried with you."

"Adjustments?" Rosé questioned.

Celina hummed in confirmation, "If you have the right knowledge of herbs and medicine along with the verbal skills, you can make people think anything you want them to. Can't say I'm proud to be so good at faking things, but it helps when we need illusions of people being where they aren't and Edward can't make alchemical dummies for them. Funny thing is, I got interested in it when someone tried to take something from me using herbs and medicines."

A horrible and dark look spread on the Chimera's face as she said that last sentence, before she shrugged it off and smiled, "Either way, that's in the past, this is the present and my illusions are useful when they need to be, so who cares where they came from?"

Rosé wasn't fooled, "You three have paid quite the price, haven't you? An arm and a leg, a body… being a lab-rat. And yet here you are now, trying to get it all back. About your mother… what happened to her?"

Alphonse was silent for a moment, before standing up, "Okay then, it's time I got started. Brother should be ready by now."

While Rosé was ignored by Alphonse, Celina gave her attention, "Rosé, even I don't know about everything that happened when they tried to bring her back. All I do know… is the price they paid wasn't worth what they had in return."

Rosé was horribly confused by this; was having their mother back not worth all that pain? Had their mother even come back? Was she the same way she was when she was alive?

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAK!

Rosé covered her ears with a pained gasp while Celina yowled and yanked her ears as close to her head as she could.

"Oh geez," Celina hissed, then growled at Alphonse who had been the one to turn the bell on and make the noise, "a little more warning next time, Alphonse!"

"I'm sorry." Alphonse drew it out, annoyed slightly.

" _Why? Is it the money you're after?"_

Rosé gasped, "Edward?!"

What was he doing on the radio?

" _Oh, I can get all the money I want from the offerings. But you think too small-"_

And Father Cornello, too?!

" _I'M NOT SHORT, YOU OLD BASTARD!"_

" _I'll ignore you in exchange for explaining my plan in simple terms for you to understand, boy. I'm making believers who would gladly throw away their lives for me. And why not? They believe in resurrection through me and are not afraid to die. In time, they would become an invincible army. And there is no greater army then those with a Holy Cause!"_

Rosé gasped; the Father couldn't mean that! He'd always been so kind to everyone! How could that be all he wanted? He hated war and had said so himself so many times!

" _Mark my words, boy! In a few years, I will have a following large enough to set out and tear this country apart and rebuild it in my name! With me as it's new king! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"_

" _Makes no difference to me."_

" _What?!"_

" _After all, the dead can't really come back to life, can they? There's no real way to do it. Once you cut me down, I'm gone for good. Am I right, Cornello?"_

" _I'm afraid that's right. Even if I used the Philosopher's Stone, I wouldn't dare try Human Transmutation. That would get me arrested and who knows what else could happen to my body? What if I lost a leg and arm like you did, you foolish child? Or perhaps I'll lose my heart or liver? I wouldn't dare pay a cost like that for something that can't even be done. Especially not for the Faithful who are foolish enough to believe me. Why would a king risk his life for the sake of his mindless pawns? Wait a second…"_

There was silence for a moment as the sound of someone moving entered the mic.

" _Wha-WWWWWWWWWWWHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT?!"_

" _How long?! How long has that mic been on?!"_

" _Long enough for the 'mindless pawns tearing this country apart' comment I think. By the way, I'd look behind you if I were you._

" _What the?! Where did that little Chimera disappear to?!"_

" _Celina was never here in the first place; she used a few meds and stuff to make sure you'd think she was in here. Truth is, she was out helping Alphonse get your equipment down here."_

" _But I-"_

" _I know you smashed him into pieces, but that was just some metal I whipped up to look like him. Pretty clever aren't we?"_

" _No, my children he lies, don't believe him!"_

 _BALALALALALALALALALALALALALA!_

The broadcast was cut off and Rosé knew right then and there… It was all true. Edward, Celina and Alphonse were right.

There was no way to bring someone back from the dead.

Father Cornello didn't care about her or anyone else in Liore.

It was all a lie.

"There you have it, Rosé." Celina said, handing the girl a tissue, "The truth about your precious Father Cornello. But right now, as much as I would love to comfort you, my favorite blonde spit fire needs me."

Suddenly, she ran and jumped of the church roof and into a window of the building, looking ready for a fight that Rosé knew she wasn't strong enough to take part in but needed to happen.


	6. Their Endless Journey Continues

_An Alchemist. Alchemists are the remarkable individuals capable of studying and practicing Alchemy._

 _As the craft of Alchemy requires a full understanding of chemistry, physics and ancient Alchemical theory, Alchemists are closer to scientists than magicians, but the ability to perform Alchemy is also tied to an inherent talent for manipulating matter and energy, so not all people can become competent Alchemists merely by studying._

 _Though essentially scientists, Alchemists' abilities are incredibly practical and can be applied to the simple enhancement of normal life in the form of quick, relatively effortless repair of objects that ordinarily take a good deal of time and energy to fix. As such, Alchemists are revered as productive members of society and hold the concept of 'Be Thou For The People' as their unofficial credo._

 _This creed dictates that Alchemists use their abilities for the good of the public rather than for personal gain or political reasons, a creed generally rejected by Alchemists who opt for government licenses and funding as State Alchemists._

 _Despite their obligation to the people, Alchemists are also careful to keep the secrets of their research out of the hands of the general public so as to prevent abuse of that knowledge and power by those with less-than-noble intentions._

 _As such, Alchemists generally keep their research notes coded so that only they, or other like-minded Alchemical geniuses, may understand them._

 _And Alchemists can be very creative when they use their coding. Some code things as if they were a dating diary. Others use cooking as a base for their coding. Some disguise their notes as a travelogue. Whatever form an Alchemist hides their notes in, only an Alchemist of equal knowledge, dedication, inspiration and patience could ever hope to figure it out._

 _That's one of the things I admire most about Ed and Al; they work their asses off, they're incredibly strong and smart. So I know one day they'll get to be happy again._

 _And I'm gonna see Alphonse smile at me one day; I just know it._

* * *

After the very brief and not really worth mentioning fight with Cornello in which his followers saw he for the loser he really was and Edward found out the stone was a fake, Celina knew her best friend was damn well ready to leave this nightmare behind her.

Especially after she heard the blonde spit fire sighing as she approached them, before sitting down and looking at her State Alchemist watch, "It was a damn fake, just like him. Another damn wild goose chase, huh?" She put the watch back in her pocket and turned to Celina and Alphonse, "And here I thought we could finally fix your bodies."

"You should come first, Brother." Alphonse stated, "That Automail is pretty ruff on you and all."

"And I don't even want my body back, guys, how many more times are we going to have this conversation?" Celina sighed, glaring at her friends, "You two are so damn persistent, it's a royal pain in the ass."

"As many times as it takes for you to finally accept we're going to fix you even if it kills us." Edward stated.

Celina pouted, "Persistent shits."

Edward grinned, "That's you and me, not Alphonse, Celina!"

Celina sighed, "Whatever. Let's just go already."

"Nothing more to do then keep searching I guess." Edward stood up, Alphonse and then Celina following her example.

Once the trio were stood up, they turned around-

"How could you do that to us? You should never have come here."

-only to glance over their shoulders at the pink and brown haired girl who looked devastated and confused.

Rosé didn't stop at that, "The Minister's miracles gave us hope, what right did you have to take that away? With him we believed we could do anything, even bring dead people back to life… We're a desert village, we had nothing before that! That was the only hope we had!"

The trio just stared at her, an emotionless gaze that seemed to make Rosé want to squirm.

Finally, Edward spoke, "You're saying we should have left everything go the way it was?"

Celina also spoke, but a hint of a scowl was on her face, "Are you saying we should have let Cornello turn you and everyone you cared about in Liore into mindless soldiers? Because that's what would have happened if we didn't come here."

Rosé's eyes filled with tears, but she refused to cry, Celina could see it, "Well, why not? What am I supposed to cling to, as I try to go on living now that I know Cain won't come back?! Tell me!"

Celina and Edward only gave her that same look before Edward dropped her head and turned around, "You'll have to decide that for yourself, Rosé. Get up and walk on your own. Move forward. You've got some fine legs there, don't you? You should get up and use them."

And with that, Edward started walking away, but Celina stayed when she noticed Alphonse wasn't ready to start walking yet. Rosé fell to her knees and Alphonse approached the emotionally wounded girl.

Alphonse kneeled beside her so he was closer to her in eye-level, "I think Brother did all this for your sake, Rosé, please don't be upset with him. He just doesn't handle things well."

Rosé stubbornly turned her head, scowling, "He shouldn't have bothered. Just go away."

"You can still believe and hope, Rosé." Alphonse offered, "I still do."

Celina sighed and sat on the floor in front of her, crossing her knees, "Just count yourself lucky you're alive, Rosé. We've seen all sorts of things together; some beautiful, some grotesque."

Alphonse nodded and also sat down, "And we're going to tell you about them, Rosé. You must not go down the same path as us. That's what I believe would be best for you and everyone else."

Celina nodded, "Totally. A life of adventure is fun and all, but it's definitely not worth the price Ed and Al paid for it. Or what I paid for it, either."

"Edward and I were born and raised in a small village East of Central, named Resembool." Alphonse began, "That's where everything began."

Celina grinned and moved so she was sitting a little bit closer to Rosé, "Get ready, Rosé, not even I've heard about their story this far back."

And so, Alphonse told the girls in great details, the story of Ed and Al's childhood with their mother, Alchemy and Winry Rockbell, who was their neighbour and later Ed's Mechanic.

He told them of their mother's death and their attempt at Human Transmutation to get her back.

He told them of the then Lieutenant Coronal Mustang's visit to Resembool and his offer to let them take the State Alchemist exam.

He told them how Edward got the Automail and they burned their house down.

He told them of a man named Majhal and how his obsession with bringing the woman he loved back to life, blinded him from seeing she'd been there all along and that sealed his fate.

He told them of a girl named Claus who had chosen hate and vengeance to hide how much she missed her dead sister.

He told them of a fierce battle on a moving train to Central to prove they could take the State Alchemist Exam.

Celina cut in at that point and began telling them things from how she'd seen them back then.

She told them of the strange but awesome pair of brothers who arrived on her doorstep when she was 7 years old and her instant likeness for the two.

She told them of the trust they had given her, but she had destroyed, only to urn it once again and prove herself of it.

She told them of the day Edward passed the exam.

She told them of the night she was transformed into a Chimera.

She told them of Barry the Chopper and his sinister treatment towards them.

She told them of the Youswell Coal Mines and First Lieutenant Yoki.

She told them of her return to Rayerk and what happened while she was in that hell.

She told them of the new friend she made called Anand and of Major General Hakuro.

And when they were done, the sun was beginning to fall and they decided, enough was enough and they needed to catch up with Ed.

So, they left Rosé to where she was and the started heading for the out-skirts of town.

"You two don't spear details in your story telling, do you?"

Neither of them stopped for Edward as she joined them, Celina only chuckled, "Like you're one to talk, Miss Writer of the nest Best Novel in all of Amestris."

"Remind me again why you think I'm going to be a Novelist?" Edward questioned.

Celina grinned, smugly, "Because you're a damn good writer and it's a lot more peaceful way to make some money. Either you or Alphonse are gonna become writers. Or me, but then I don't think they'd sell since I'm terrible at writing."

"Yeah, you do suck at it." Edward snorted.

Celina scowled, but sighed and turned her eyes to the sun, "Let's just get on with our endless journey again, okay?"

The pair of siblings nodded and with that, they walked out of Liore and back into the desert.


	7. Hello and Welcome to Aquroya

**AN: The new characters that appears belong to Mary Phantom who offered them to me for the story.**

* * *

 _Alchemical Tattoos. In order to make sure they can transmute more quickly while in action, some Alchemists will have their arrays tattooed onto their bodies._

 _Some Alchemists will have their arrays cut in half and placed on the palms of their hands so when they clap, the array activates and does whatever it's supposed to do. A man named Zoft J. Kimblee did this and he was an exceptional Alchemist by many standards; except for the fact he was a heretic._

 _Other Alchemists will tattoo their chests or cleavage so the array would be in a fairly easy to reach place and they could use both or just one of their hands to complete the reaction and make the array do it's stuff. A legendary Phantom Thief named Psiren is said to do such things, but no one's ever seen her face under the mask or the tattoo itself so no one knows._

 _I even heard of an Alchemist who tattooed others with his research notes so only people those tattooed deem worthy will ever see their coded notes. Personally, I think doing that would be cruel because whoever was tattooed will be incredibly restricted since they couldn't have others seeing the tattoo, even if they don't understand it._

 _But I only heard of such things once in my life; I'm glad I never heard of it again, even if the idea stuck with me. But, back to Alchemical Tattoos._

 _Some Alchemists get tattoos because gloves or gauntlets can be taken off. Others because they feel they have no other choice if they want to protect what's important to them. A few get tattooed because it reminded them of something they needed to remember. Whatever the case, one can never be too careful when battling an Alchemist._

 _Because you never know what tricks they may have up their sleeves._

* * *

The whistle blew as our 3 favorite heroes sat on a train that sailed through the sunrise landscape; two were playing cards while another was writing a letter from the looks of things.

"Discarding two." Edward mumbled, a stick of dumplings in her mouth, as the blonde picked up a card; it made her frown, " _Sheesh, more junk._ "

Celina however smiled as she reread some of the things she written.

 _Dear Anand,_

 _It's me again, little old Celina at your service. You having fun with the kids at the Tower of Heaven? How's your Mam been? Are Anbra and Kyle going out yet? Because if they send me one more letter about how scared they are to confess their love for each other, I sear, I'm gonna_ -

"Just discard already!"

Celina looked at the irritated blonde and got a flash of the cards in her hand; a 9, 2, 7, 5 and Jack. Not a good hand in anyone's books.

"Sorry." Alphonse seemed to shrink back for a moment, "I'll take two as well."

Celina sighed and went back to reading her letter; the outcome of the game was obvious by now.

"Hey, Ed, wanna double the bet?"

"Suit yourself."

A giggle. "Sorry, but I got a full house."

"I'm sorry to. Royal Flash."

"No way! I lose again! I thought I'd win this time. Alright, this time I really am going to beat you, Ed!"

Celina sighed to herself; she knew the elder Elric was going to cheat her way out of this.

"I quit, I'm bored." Edward sighed, folding her arms behind her.

Alphonse stopped shuffling his cards, "What's wrong, Brother? You've done nothing but win for a while now. Are you bored of that? If so, why don't you lose on purpose for a change?"

Celina snickered, "Hey, I don't mind playing a couple of games if the great Elric Brothers will let me. And I promise to give you both a run for your money."

Edward sighed and took the stick from her mouth, putting it down, "It's not about the cards, guys, it's who we gotta see." The annoyed girl picked up one of the playing cards from the pile; it was the Joker, "Mustang."

Celina grinned, her Thylacine instincts preparing for the prey to fall into another trap.

"You don't want to see him?" Alphonse asked, innocent.

Edward snapped, "Oh course I don't, Al! Our best lead on the Stone turned out to be a bloody fake! Along with us doing nothing else useful and the damn collateral damage, I'm gonna get my damn ears chewed out by that bastard!"

"But we did do something else, Ed," Alphonse whimpered, "We've done a lot of good."

The blonde snorted, "Good?! Good goes on a military report side bar for Collateral Damage! Just bloody watch as I hand in my damned report! I can see the smug bastard's face and his damn sarcastic reequips." She stared at her last stick of dumplings, "Just thinking about it," she put one in her mouth, "makes me completely nauseous."

Celina's grin flashed wicked, but then turned innocent again, "How come you can eat that so easily if thinking of Mustang makes you so sick, Edward-kun? Or are you imagining that dumpling thing is an important part of Mustang's anatomy?"

The sound of the whistle blowing drowned out anything that Edward could have started screaming out in an embarrassed rage or any shameful questions from Alphonse asking where Celina learned about such things.

All she would have done was smirk at them and remind them her hometown's nick name anyway.

* * *

By the time the sun was shining white and the sky was bright blue, the train had stopped but not in East City. To be honest, Celina didn't know where she was.

"Are you sure this is okay, Brother?" Alphonse asked, looking around the station with their single suit case in hand, "We're supposed to go straight to East City."

Edward, who had gotten more of those dumpling things, looked up towards her brother, "We'll be fine; you never know where you can find information on the stone and plus, I get to avoid a lecture from everyone's favorite Flame Alchemist."

"As well as a spanking." Celina muttered.

"I hope that wasn't an inappropriate joke, young lady." Edward lectured.

Celina gave an innocent grin, "Who? Me? Inappropriate jokes? Non-sense Edward; I only make cracks about your inappropriate love life. Not that you're tall enough to have one."

Edward saw red, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING TOO SHORT TO GET A DATE BECAUSE EVERYONE ELSE IS A GIANT COMPARED TO HIM AND HIS ANT-SIZED LOVE LIFE?!"

Celina laughed and left the girl to sulk about her love life; instead she turned her head towards a sign above the tracks; it was a red sign with white writing saying 'Welcome to Aquroya'.

The Chimera's grin grew wider, "Besides, this is Aquroya; a famous tourist town. Does anyone remember when the last time we took a break was? Because I damn well don't and all things considered, I think we've earned one."

Alphonse was still a little nervous, "I don't know; it sorta feels like we're playing hooky on a school trip."

Edward, who had been calmly eating her last dumpling, turned around and started sweating, "W-who's playing hooky, Al-"

Only to have a few cards start falling out the wrist of her coat; the same playing cards that would help her win. Celina grinned when she spotted the 'oh shit' look on Edward's face, " _Busted…_ "

Alphonse hummed, "My oh my, what do we have here?" He kneeled down so he could see the cards, "What an awfully good set of cards."

He picked them up, but Edward (" _That little shit._ " Celina thought) was already running for her bloody life.

"Wait up, Brother!" Alphonse cried, picking up the dropped suit case and running after his sister, "You cheater! I want back everything you took from me! And I thought I was just unlucky!"

Celina sighed as she picked up the cards and then started running after the 'brothers', "The things I do for love…"

* * *

"Damn it," Celina panted, her hands on her knees, "those two could run forever, I swear."

The Chimera groaned as she felt her ears twitching and begging for air; that damn hat was so bloody stuffy and her ears were roasting under the unbearable and inescapable heat. But no; she was in public for fuck's sake, she can't let her ears out right now. What was worst?

She'd lost Ed and Al. Completely and utterly lost them.

" _Oh well,_ " She sighed internally, " _knowing those two, they'll cause a ruckus and I'll end up swooping in to save them. That or I'll get in trouble because I lost my hat or someone will literally run into me._ "

"WATCH OUT!"

SMASH!

"OWWW!" "FUCK!"

Celina growled, rubbing her head, "Me and my big fucking mouth."

" _Wait a minute,_ " She thought, her eyes opening and her shock showing, " _I know that smell!_ "

The person tried to apologize, "Awww man, I am so sorry-"

"ANAND!" Celina squealed and glomped her friend.

The boy grunted for a moment, then gasped, "Holy shit, Celina!" and hugged her back just as tightly.

"Oh, I missed you so much, man, it's been like, forever since we last saw each other in the flesh!" Celina cried, her arms tightening around him slightly.

Anand smiled and tightened his arms around her, too, "I missed you too, Celina."

The two just sat there and hugged each other.

Eventually, they did stand up and let go; with allowed the Chimera to take the time to notice how her friend had changed over the years and saw that they'd been good to him.

He still had the Amestrian blonde hair that looked kinda spiky but was usually covered by a bandanna; instead of a bandanna, he wore glasses to hide his deep red Ishvalan eyes outside of his home town. His Ishvalan skin was dark as mud and in plain sight, however no one needed to worry too much about that. His cloths were casual as ever; white shirt with random patchwork on it, denim jeans and worn out blue and white sneakers.

Celina voiced her thoughts with a smile, "You're looking good, man."

Anand nodded his head, looking his gun-slinging friend up and down, "So do you, Celina. What are you doing in Aquroya?"

The two began walking, "I could say the same for you, Mr. Southern Explorer. What are you doing this far away from Fexeif?"

He chuckled awkwardly, "I actually came here with my Mom; she's been getting paid pretty well at her new job and her boss sorta forced us to take a break since we've been working so hard practically all our lives. The second Mom gave up he practically shoved two tickets in her hands for a train to Aquroya; so here I am."

She made a few awing sounds, "Sounds to me like your Mom's mysterious Boss cares an awful lot about her; you mind telling me if there's any romance going on, or is it more along the lines of family-friend thing?"

He sighed, hanging his head, "It's hard to tell since I've never actually met the guy, but practically every morning when she leaves for work, Mom says with a smile on her face 'I gotta go; don't wanna be late for John and the gang' and goes running off like a school girl."

She laughed, a sympathetic yet arrogant smirk on her face, "I'm guessing that based on that very one-sided opinion you believe you're Mom's got the hots for her boss?"

The half-Ishvalan nodded, "Totally. I only ever see her that happy-ish when she's taking about Dad and even then she's sad that he's not around."

The half-Thylacine girl's smile leaned more towards the sympathetic side, "Well, if anything does happen, keep me posted not just with developments in your Mom's love life but with you and your feelings to, okay? Cause if you don't, I will walk all the way to Fexeif and smack you in the face for keeping me in the dark."

His smile turned humorless, "You're such a good friend, Celly-chan, I might as well kiss you."

Her laugh was anything but sympathetic, "Oh, shut up, you lady killer! I'm too young to die!"

The two broke out into laughter.

"WHAT THE HELL'S YOUR PROBLEM, PAL?!"

The two stopped and turned their heads, Anand asking, "Was that…"

He didn't need to finish; they could already see their favorite short-tempered blonde pouting, mud all over her front. Beside her, Alphonse was forever there.

"Well, this _is_ the City of Water." Alphonse chuckled.

Anand smiled and yelled, "HEY! ELRCIS!"

The 'brothers' turned their heads and smiled, running over to the 'wolf' and 'Amestrian', meeting them half-way.

"Hey, Anand, it's been a long time!" Alphonse greeted.

Anand nodded, "Sure has. How have you both been?"

"We're good other than getting covered in mud," Edward grumbled, "speaking of, give me a sec, will you?"

The blonde clapped her hands and pressed them to the muddy water; it instantly started disappearing from her clothes-

CLINK

-and a handcuff encircled her wrist before the transmutation light even began fading.

Edward sent an aggravated look towards the man who had her cuffed, "What do you want, Pops?"

The man wearing classical detective out-fit and looked a lot like 'Inspector Gadget' only yanked the hand-cuffs high above the blonde's head, "You're coming to the station with me, kid!" He smirked and got up in Edward's face, "There's something I want to ask you about."

Edward gave the cop a look, Alphonse started shaking, a tick mark appeared over Celina's head and Anand was looking very worried.

* * *

Private Inspector Koji Zandgeta didn't believe a single thing that came out of the boys' or girl's mouths.

"So, you're a State Alchemist, then?" Zandgeta asked, his elbows on the table in the dark room, one of his hands over his fist; classical interrogation posture just like his childhood hero, "And the famous Fullmetal Alchemist at that?"

The blonde boy stuffed his face with the food they'd given him, "How many times are you going to make me say it, nitwit?"

The dark skinned boy who hadn't taken his glasses off even when they were in such a dark room looked at his blonde companion worriedly, his food only lightly touched, "Edward, I don't think insulting the Inspector is a good idea."

"Fuck good ideas," The delinquent girl huffed, her mood having worsened after forcibly having her belt of weapons and licence taken from her for inspection; she was glaring at the food in her bowl as if it had personally offended her, "this guy is a broken bloody record, doesn't matter what we tell him, Anand, he's gonna think he's a saint and we're the sinners until Mustang or somebody else confirms our identity."

"Celina, don't be so judgmental." The man in the armour sighed; he hadn't even looked at his own bowl of energy boasting stuff, "He's just trying to do a good job."

"Alphonse, he can go fuck himself and his job for all I care," Celina snarled, acting much like an angry animal, "I just wanna eat and I'm not touching this crap. It smells just as much like horseshit as the Inspector and his repetitive words do!"

"Besides," Edward swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing, "that watch of mine should be proof enough of who I am!"

Zandgeta internally smirked; the boy was naive if he'd believe him so easily even if the Silver Watch looked real, "If it's the real thing that is. How could you be the great Fullmetal Alchemist when you're such a pipsqueak-"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A PEE-WEE SO SMALL YOU INSTINCTIVELY WANT TO STEP ON HIM BECAUSE HE'S LIKE AN ANT AND ANTS SHOULD BE CRUSHED?!" Edward raved, jumping up and down like a brat.

Alphonse turned his head to his brother, "Brother, no one ever said anything like that."

Celina growled, her stomach grumbling, "Damn it, if I didn't know this crap would give me food poisoning, I'd be wolfing it down right about now."

Anand chuckled, "Maybe one little bite won't hurt? I mean, I think I'm doing okay even though I've only eaten a couple of mouthfuls."

Zandgeta forced down a sigh; this was getting tiresome, "Now, now, don't get so worked up. Right now, we have an unidentified phantom thief in the city who goes by the name of Psiren plaguing us."

That gained the group's attention, "Psiren?"

Zandgeta nodded, "Her real name's unknown and the only thing we have on her that we could call a lead and that's the fact she uses Alchemy; so I thought you just might be connected." While he explained this, he noticed Edward snatch Alphonse's bowl out of his hand and started stuffing his face again, "That's why I thought I would hear out whatever it was you had to say. But you say you're with the State and the Fullmetal Alchemist no less…"

Zandgeta was going to get to the bottom of this little mystery. They didn't call him 'Inspector' for nothing…

Thought it was mostly because he was the only one old enough for the job, his dear sister Clara would argue.

* * *

3 hours later, our heroes are finally leaving the room and instead are in the hallway were a worried woman was waiting for them.

Her skin was sickly pale as if she'd seen a ghost, her eyes a soft grey and her hair was a bright blonde with ever so gentle highlights only a shade darker. She was wearing a simple pair of dark blue heals, pale blue skirt, pink shirt, denim jacket, pale scarf and a creamy sunhat with a pink ribbon around it. This was Anand's mother, Amy Shama.

Amy's eyes welled up with tears of relief when she saw her boy approach her, "Oh, Anand honey…"

Anand's expression became guilt-tripped, "Sorry I got stuck here Mom…"

Celina cut in, "Don't apologize Anand," she turned her head to Amy, "and please don't be upset with him, it's my fault he was in there."

Amy shook her head at the pair of them and kneeled in front of the two, taking them into a hug and allowing her tears to fall, "I'm just glad that you're both safe and sound. If you'd been hurt here or worst, I…" She couldn't bring herself to finish, the fear and tears leaving too much of a weight on her vocal cords for her to continue.

The pair felt their guilt increase ten-fold and they wrapped their arms around the woman in return.

"Hey, we're okay now, Amy." Celina softly assured the woman.

"We're not even scratched and no one even bothered asking about my sun-glasses." Anand promised, "We're fine."

Amy only sniffled and held the pair a little closer to her. Celina didn't blame the woman for being upset; she'd lost her lover (and Anand's father) to an Extermination War and all it would take for her son to be taken away was a look at what was underneath his sunglasses. She'd be scared to if she got a call saying her sorta illegally created child was at a Police Station and in danger of being discovered to be illegal.

Not that Celina would ever have children.

Amy eventually pulled away from the pair and stood up, whipping her eyes, "Sorry about that, kids." She chuckled softly, putting her hands behind her back, "Now, time to go back to the hotel, Anand. We are supposed to be leaving today after all."

Celina was surprised, "You're leaving already?"

Anand sighed, "Yeah, we've got a train scheduled for 5pm we gotta make. After that it's about 12 hours into the southern area of Amestris, then getting on another two trains to arrive after spending 5 hours in them."

The Chimera looked down, feeling depressed. She was really hoping to spend a little more time with Anand… But it was 3pm now and though she knew her friend and his mother probably didn't pack much, they liked to have a little extra time for everything.

"Hey, it's okay," Anand placed a hand on her shoulder, making her look up at him in surprise; he only smiled wider at her, "it's not the end of the world; we can still write each other letters and phone each other. I'll even make a trip up to Central next time I can."

Her eyes widened and then softened with a smile, "Oh Anand. I miss you already and you haven't even left yet."

He laughed, "Well, everyone in the village says I'm a lady killer."

She also laughed a little, her earlier words coming to mind, "Oh shut it you, I'm too young to die so bloody cut the sweet talk out already." Celina laughed again, "Or you'll give me a bloody toothache."

Anand gave her a horrified expression, "But if I did then who'd remind you how pretty you are?!"

Celina snorted and flicked a bit of hair over her shoulders, "Please, as if I need you to remind me just how pretty I am. I'm not that deprived of my confidence."

The two gave a laugh and when they stopped, they hugged each other, close; Anand's arms around her waist and Celina's arms around his shoulders.

"Thanks for coming to Aquroya, Anand," Celina whispered, "I didn't realize how much I needed to see you until you reminded me."

"No problem, Celina," Anand whispered back, "don't forget to write."

She shook her head, "Never. Not come burning hell or high water will I ever forget to write to you."

He tightened his arms around her, "Nor I you."

The two pulled away from each other, but neither of them let go of the other's elbows. The two continued to smile to each other, as if words were being spoken without the use of human speech.

Edward sighed very audibly and grabbed the back of Celina's shirt, "Come on Al, help me drag her away from Mr Pretty Boy or she'll just stand there, starring into his eyes until the sun comes up again."

"Oh, umm, okay," Alphonse grabbed onto his sister's shoulders and helped her drag a very reluctant Celina outside, who was still staring at Anand, still smiling at him.

Amy chuckled and also began dragging her son away, "Come on Anand, or you'll never get packed so you can go to Central with them."

That got her son running for the hotel, leaving a dust cloud behind him, as if a pack of wild boar were on his tail. Amy laughed and followed after her son, only one thought in mind;

" _Ahh, young love._ "

* * *

"Damn that guy!" A very frustrated Edward hissed through gritted teeth, "He kept repeating the same damn questions for the entire three hours! What does he have for brains, spaghetti?!"

Celina chuckled, "Calm yourself, Elric, or you're letting the idiot win."

Alphonse had other things to talk about though, "But guys, doesn't it bother you? I mean, a thief using Alchemy…"

"Well, I…" Edward sank to the flour, holding her stomach in distress.

The duo stopped, "Brother?"

"What's wrong?" Celina asked, noticing, "Your face looks blue and you're shaking."

The girl rigidly turned her head, "M-my stomach…"

That was all she managed before she went into a posture that warned the others she was preparing to throw up.


	8. Of Kindness, Promises and Insanity

_Phantom Thieves. Also sometimes called things such as a 'gentleman thief', 'lady thief', or 'Kaitō' in the East, is a recurring stock character in fictional novels._

 _A gentleman or lady thief usually has inherited wealth and are characterized by impeccable manners, charm, courteousness and the avoidance of physical force or intimidation to steal. As such, they do not steal to gain material wealth but for the thrill of the act itself, often combined in fiction with correcting a moral wrong, selecting wealthy targets, or stealing only particular rare and challenging objects._

 _But not all phantom thieves are super wealthy men and women. Some are ordinary teenagers who are the reincarnations of heroes and heroines of our past, others aren't even human._

 _For examples of Phantom Thieves and their traditional motives in their line of work, here:_

 _Robin Hood is a former Earl who steals from the rich to give to the poor.  
_ _Raffles only steals from other gentleman (and occasionally gives the object away to a good cause).  
_ _Lupin steals from the rich who do not appreciate their art or treasures and redistributes it.  
_ _Saint Tail steals back what was stolen or taken dishonestly, or rights the wrongs done to the innocent by implicating 'the real' criminals.  
_ _Sly Cooper and his gang steal from other thieves and criminals.  
_ _Kaito Jeanne seals away demons who have possessed people by infesting beautiful works of art (the public think she steals the paintings though, so she qualifies)._

 _I won't lie and say that I don't like the idea of Phantom Thieves; I love it to be honest. But I know that what they're doing isn't right and I wouldn't ever participate in such acts merely for the sake of it; if I lived in a world like that of Robin Hood, sign me up to be a member of his Gang of Merry Men, but I wouldn't do it in this day and age._

 _I didn't think anyone was worried about Phantom Thieves since there wasn't a need for them at this time in history. The biggest problems in Amestris right now, I thought, were worrying if your loved ones would ever come back safe and sound from the front-lines on whatever god forsaken part of the country that was probably miles away from home they were fighting on._

 _Looks like I was proven wrong by Psiren. If she even is a 'Lady Thief' that is._

* * *

Doctor Smith smiled at the report of the boy's condition he was given and turned around in his chair, back to the trio of children, "It seems it was nothing more than a little food poisoning and you'll be just fine."

The blonde boy who was examined scowled while the young girl visibly relaxed and the boy in armour seemed to be smiling under his helmet.

"Thank goodness," She spoke, "I was afraid you ate too much, Edward-kun." A small frown came onto her face though, "I hope Anand's okay." She shrugged and then gave a grin, "Oh well, now I get to say 'I told you so', bean!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A BEAN, CAT GIRL?!" Edward snarled.

'Cat Girl's expression changed to one of pure rage, "I'M CELINA NOT CAT GIRL, EDWARD ELRIC, YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" She then turned to the armour boy, tears in her eyes, "Tell him, Alphonse, I'm not a fucking cat and he knows it."

Alphonse sighed and it seemed he's decided to ignore the two and instead gave Smith his attention, "Is there anything else, Doctor?"

Smith looked at the report again; he couldn't lose that smile, they were kids and probably needed a little smile right now, "You're going to need an injection, though. Clara-san!"

The boy's eyes widened, "Injection?"

And all Hell broke loose.

"NO WAY, I HATE SHOTS!" Edward screamed, attempting to run off.

Alphonse wrapped his armored arms around the teenager's chest, "Brother, don't make such a fuss."

"Yeah, short thing," Celina growled, coming around and picking him up by his legs, "you're acting like a little baby."

"I'M OKAY, I'M ALREADY BETTER!" Edward cried, struggling.

Celina sighed, "If you were, you would have started screaming your head off about not being short by now. You're clearly sick, Edward, if you don't blow up about your height-or lack thereof, as most would say."

"She's right, Ed," Alphonse grumbled, "you're being such a baby. Take off your coat already."

"ALPHONSE, CELINA, YOU TRAITORS, HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO YOUR OLDER BROTHER?!" The blonde screamed.

"You're starting to piss me off, Ed." Celina hissed, "And you know no one likes me when I'm pissed."

"I'm getting mad, too, Brother." Alphonse growled.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I HATE SHOTS! I'D RATHER BE SHORT FOR LIFE THEN HAVE SHOTS! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" Edward whaled.

From where he was sitting, Smith saw Clara gently tap the boy's nose; and the chaos stopped. While everyone was shocked at the end of the chaos, Clara gave the boy his shot.

"There!" She stood back up straight and put the needle out of sight, "You're all done. Now that didn't hurt, did it?"

"Fast work." Alphonse commented, still clearly shocked.

Celina whistled, "That's the first time I've ever seen anyone get a needle in him without knocking him out first. Well done, ma'am."

Clara giggled and put the needle away, "And after all that fuss."

Edward's shock finally wore off, replaced with a scowl, "So, what's your point?"

Clara finished and smiled at him, "Nothing really. We all need to grow up sometime, right?"

Edward continued scowling like a bratty teenager (which Smith knew he was, he couldn't blame the boy), "So, is the rude commentary included in the bill?"

Smith noticed the parent-like younger brother was staring at the gorgeous nurse and he didn't blame him. Clara was a sight to behold; rich blonde hair, pale skin and green eyes…

The woman was a beauty alright.

* * *

A couple hours later we have Edward, Celina and Alphonse sitting in the sun and commenting on the nurse, Clara her name was, they were with.

"She was so good at her job," Alphonse noted, sounding breathless even to his own 'ears', "and smart. And gorgeous, too. I can't stop thinking about her."

Clara really was pretty; something about her made you feel safe and protected. She was a pretty nurse and inexplicably fascinating. Alphonse really couldn't stop thinking about her.

"Alphonse, you sound like a love-struck puppy." Celina said, sweat-dropping at him before going back to her water.

"You've got the weirdest taste in women, Al." Edward commented, hands behind her head, "She was a bad gift in pretty wrapping."

If he could have, Alphonse would have pouted at both of them; he wasn't in love, he just found her interesting. Besides, armour doesn't have hormones so how would he know if he liked her? And she's at least 13 years his senior.

"You two need to get a love life." Alphonse snorted, " _Perhaps that will get them to act more like girls instead of stubborn brats._ "

"That won't do, Miss Creek."

The trio turned their heads to see the subject of their conversation kneeling in front of an elderly woman.

"Speak of the devil and she shall appear." Celina muttered.

Alphonse ignored her in exchange for watching Clara help the old lady.

"You've left so much food on your plate." Clara smiled as she sat on her knees in front of the old lady, "You can't get better on an empty stomach."

Creek's voice croaked, "I'm sorry, Clara-san," she used to head to indicate her plate full of hard bread, "but I just can't get them down, they hurt my teeth too much."

"I can't help you there." Clara went fishing for something in the draws, "But since that breads too tough," she pulled out a knife and an apple, "how about I get you something tastier like a pealed piece of fruit?"

For young Alphonse, trapped in armour as he was, the image hit his heart home with memories bubbling up.

" _You alright with that, Ed?"_

* * *

 _About 6 years ago in the past, when Alphonse was still flesh and blood, Edward's arm and leg weren't made of metal, they hadn't met Celina and their mother was still alive, the Elric family sat around their mother's bed._

" _This is no problem for me!" Edward would claim excitedly as she prepared to peal an apple, an adorable red shirt and white skirt on her body that she had only recently learned was female._

" _That looks dangerous, Brot-I mean, Sister." Alphonse would correct himself hastily, "Let me do it for you. Or you could hurt yourself."_

 _Edward would push him away with her elbow that had an apple-filled hand connected to it, a scowl on her face, "I'm okay, Alphonse. Back off! Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't do anything."_

" _Of course it doesn't, dear." Trisha would say and gently take the ruby red apple from her daughter's hand and began pealing it, allow her two beloved children to watch one of their favorite snacks being prepared, "But your brother loves you very much and you know it will make him sad to see you hurt. And I know that when he's sad, you get sad because you love him too."_

 _Alphonse remembered watching in amazement as their mother, always so sweet and gentle, would do the miraculous act of calming Edward down before she blew up in your face while still getting the task done right and explaining things that were sometimes needed to be remembered again._

 _And when she'd finish pealing and cutting it, Trisha would smile and hold out the plate to them, "There we go. Why don't you two eat it?"_

 _With the sun filtering through the curtains and making it appear as if Trisha was glowing, Alphonse would often wonder, if his amazing mother was an angle sent from the heavens._

 _Because in times like these, she looked exactly like the angel he knew she was in her heart and soul._

* * *

"What are you thinking about, Al?"

Alphonse turned his head to his friend's curious eyes, "Nothing. Still, Clara-san isn't just pretty, she's kind too. There's something really calming and giving about her, too. She kinda reminds me of Mom a little bit."

Edward seemed to think this was impossible, "Don't be ridiculous! They're completely different! That woman's nothing like her!"

CRASH!

The trio turned their heads in the direction where the lady, Creek, had dropped her plate with the apple and it's peal all over the flour.

"I-I'm so sorry, Clara-san." Creek whimpered in alarm, "I've gotten so clumsy."

Clara only smiled softly at the old woman, "It's okay, Miss Creek. Don't worry about it. It's just a piece of fruit."

Clara went to pick up the apple pieces and the peal, but Alphonse was already all over it; drawing a transmutation circle around the apple and when he placed his armored hand on it, the apple was as good as new in no time.

Alphonse though he heard Clara gasp, but he didn't think much of it; considering they were arrested just for using Alchemy, looks like not a lot of people did it in Aquroya.

He picked up the now whole apple and offered it to the woman, "There, good as new."

Clara looked at the trio, "You're alchemists."

It was a statement, not a question. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite true.

"Nope." Celina shook her head and pointed at herself, proudly, "Little old me can't do Alchemy; those two can, though."

"ELRIC-SAMA! ELRIC-SAMA!"

Being vaguely reminded of Yoki by the yelling, the trio turned around to see the Inspector approaching.

"WHAT NOW, POPS?!" Edward hissed, "I'm not a bloody thief! And if it makes you feel better we can make a tap with me saying 'I'm innocent' so you can play it back all you want."

"I know you are, I know." Inspector what's-his-name panted, straightening, "And this time I'm asking you for a request."

* * *

A little while later had Edward, Alphonse and Celina sitting at a table (the little red piggy stuffing her face in) with over a thousand trays of food and that many police officers to the side of them while Inspector what's-his-name (" _Zandgeta, I think it was._ " Celina thought) standing near the head of the table with them, acting like a suck up.

The whole thing made Celina's head hurt and wish she could rip off her hat and scare him into pissing off. Or shot one of his earlobes off. Whatever would make him faint faster.

"We salute the Fullmetal Alchemist, his brother and their companion, Edward Elric-sensei, Alphonse Elric-sama and Celina Tucker-sama!" Zandgeta yelled.

The men silently saluted.

" _Oh, he is asking for an ass kicking,_ " Celina thought, " _if he's including all our names then he must want all our help, damn it. I'm too hungry for this and I don't trust Aquroya's food, not after the hospital._ "

"Yikes." Alphonse murmured, leaning a bit closer to Celina.

She nodded, "I know what you mean; you'd think we were the Führer's kids or something."

Edward paused in her eating, "So, what do you want, Pops?"

Zandgeta bowed his back and brought his hands in a clasp in front of his chest; your traditional suck up pose and Edward was already back to eating, "Well, first I want to apologize about earlier and all those questions. As you said, Sensei, I got in touch with Coronal Mustang of the Eastern Command Center; I paid long distance and everything! He sounded nice; angry, but nice. He said you really are a State Alchemist, Sensei! My, my, I sure pegged you wrong!"

Celina was not impressed with his poor attempts at ass kissing; neither was Edward, "Isn't that what I said?" She went back to eating instantly.

"Y-yes, indeed you did." Zandgeta stuttered, "And in light of this new information, I have a favor to ask the great-"

Just as Celina was preparing to just point her gun and shoot, Edward stopped eating and shoved her empty bowl in his face, "Another serving and I'll help you."

Celina looked at her blonde friend as if she were mad.

Zandgeta didn't need to hear anything else, "As many as you want, Sensei!"

* * *

Hours later, in the dark of the night, the trio of heroes stood together inside one of Aquroya's many art museums. Outside the museum, a large crowd of fans stood around the gates, screaming for Psiren; Celina could hear it even through the thick walls thanks to hear ears.

"This is it, Psiren's next mark. Because with the Sensei on our side, we can rest assured," Zandgeta chanted to his men like a preacher, "today will also be Psiren's grand finally and her hold on this city will finally unravel!"

The trio and Zandgeta stood around a glass case that held within it a golden armlet of sorts.

"Well, we'll give it a try and do whatever we can tonight." Edward turned his head towards the windows, "But that's an awful lot of people and a lot of ways for things to go wrong."

Zandgeta nodded, "Yeah, that's Psiren's MO. Most thieves don't announce their thefts before they happened so I don't know what she's thinking, but she tells every paper in the country of any of her upcoming treacherous acts. Reporters, spectators; even Psiren groupies come all the way up here as a result. It's become a spectator sport."

"She sure is popular, huh? With a following like that and all." Alphonse noted.

"Well that popularity ends tonight; since I'm sure it'll fade when she starts wearing stripes." Zandgeta smirked, "We'll leave it in your hands, Sensei." He turned his head, "Now then, I'm going to go check on the security situation."

With that, the annoying Inspector began walking away, making Celina sigh heavily and slump against the wall, "Finally, a few minutes away from that suck up. I swear, just smelling he was in the room gives me a headache."

Since Edward and Alphonse were the only other two people in the room, she tugged her annoying hat off and let her ears switch about until they were comfortable again, making her sigh once more.

"I'm surprised you took this job, Brother," Alphonse turned his metal head from Celina back to Edward, "can you tell me why?"

Celina's ears twitched, but that was the only hint of interest she gave; even her eyes were closed.

"I've taken an interest," Edward shrugged, "in finding out all the ways Alchemy can be used to do wrong. And seeing if there's anything I can ever do to make it right again."

Celina smiled and then her ears sagged and she began purring; a sign she was fast asleep.

Edward and Alphonse blinked at their Chimera friend, then chuckled.

"She's had a long day, huh?" Edward commented, taking off her red jacket and moving towards her friend.

Alphonse giggled, "Yeah." He picked up her discarded hat and placed it back on her ears encase anyone walked in while Edward covered her in the temporary blanket.

The two stepped back and then sat on the flour, cross-legged, and watched the gentle rise and fall of her body as she continued breathing and purring.

"It's hard to believe she's only 11 half the time, huh, Brother?" Alphonse noted, "I mean, considering she's probably more mature then you or me and those cracks about you and Mustang she makes all the time."

"Yeah," Edward agreed, head in one of her hands, "she's only 11 and yet she's been through probably as much hell as we have; perhaps more considering her home town. Really makes you realize how lucky we were getting to grow up with Mom and Winry, huh?"

"Yeah." Alphonse sighed and looked at the hat in anguish, "Brother, will we ever get our bodies back?"

"What?!" Edward looked at her brother as if he was an idiot, "Of course we are, just don't start thinking that way now or it'll take forever! But when we do, we'll get Celina her old body back, too."

Alphonse looked at his 'brother' and her forever determinedly burning eyes and nodded; he would have smiled if he could have, "Yeah! We'll get our bodies back and so will Celina! Even if it does take us a long time, we'll get there someday. I know it!"

The Elrics bumped fists and then turned their determined faces towards Celina again. And when all three of them have their bodies back, Celina was going to make them a home cooked meal.

She'd promised, after all. They knew she'd never break a promise to them.

* * *

After checking to make sure she wasn't being followed, Clara went into her little hide away. She walked up to the flower she'd placed in the room earlier and began stripping; first her bow, then her jacket and finally the first 3 buttons on her uniform.

Clara took a breath, closed her eyes and focused; she willed the transmutation circle tattooed into her chest, the one that would identify her as the Psiren if it was ever seen, to turn the flower into a form of medicine that would help one of the patients who's herbal remedy hadn't come.

About 5 seconds after it activated, the array stopped and Clara felt that it had worked, so she opened her eyes…

Only to see Edward and the sleeping girl from the museum with him. Edward had his hands on his hips while Sleeper tried to copy him; it was so adorable, Clara might have smiled if things had been different.

But they weren't.

The boy had seen her tattoo last night and was one of few who had ever seen it at all; he was the only one who ever got to see it a second time.

So now he knew as did Sleeper.

"This is a surprise." Sleeper (" _No, her name is Celina._ " A voice reminded her) stated, critically.

"Who'd have ever thought that the kind nurse was really a petty thief?" Edward noted.

Clara felt her mind beginning to fall into panic, but she went with what she would have done if this situation ever came to pass; play innocent, "I…" A confused, innocent look and a fearful glance downwards, "I don't know what you're talking about. I just came here to get some medicine."

Celina snorted, "Yeah."

"Medicine that you made with Alchemy." Edward growled, "You lying, fraud!"

Okay, so that plan didn't work. Looks like the puppy of the military wasn't such a child after all. Looks like some slightly more adultery methods would be required with this boy. He was a teenager after all and had reacted like a virgin during their brief encounter.

"Come on now, little man, who's telling lies?" Clara took off her nurse's cap and shook her hair a bit, then resorting to a posture that puffed out her chest a bit, "I am an incredible beauty under the mask, just like I told you I was last night."

Edward stomped towards her, raising his voice and flailing about, "That's not the issue here!"

"Damn straight!" Celina also advance, "Just because you got a nice photo doesn't mean it's got good memories."

"Brother! Celina!"

Clara turned her attention to the boy in armour as he ran into the room, "Guys, bad news…" But when he saw what was going on, he stopped, "Is something the matter?"

Edward, frustrated, slammed his hand on the table, "What do you think is the matter?! That curse, you thought was so great! She's Psiren!"

"Look at her, Al!" Celina pointed at the tattoo after turning to face her armored friend, "The transmutation circle on her chest is proof enough of everything!"

Clara sighed and lowered her head, " _They're just kids, girl, calm down. Of course they'd react like this._ " She made her voice solemn, "A lot can happen in a life time, this world isn't as black and white as you'd probably like to think. You kids are probably too young to understand."

A sob story is usually the best way to get out of these situations.

"What?!" Edward snapped.

Celina's hand that had been resting on the wood scrapped at it as anger twisted her face temporarily.

"I understand." Alphonse said.

That got the short-tempered people's attention, "Huh?"

"I heard earlier that the hospital was going to be demolished. Clara-san, you became a thief out of necessity for the hospital's survival." Alphonse lifted his head, "Am I right?"

Clara had to hand it to the kid; that would be a nice story to use if anyone ever found out her true identity again. Now all she had to do was make it look good and it's not as if she was out right lying; she was letting them assume that was the whole truth.

Clara made a display of slumping in tiredness and relief, mixing in just a little bit of guilt in the look, "T-that's right. I didn't want to become a thief. But in order to save the patients here, I had no choice." With a tear to seal the deal, there was absolutely no way this wasn't going to work.

Celina and Edward visibly lost their rage and Alphonse regained his enthusiasm.

"I knew it!" The boy grinned, "Such a kind person…"

Edward looked down guilty as did Celina.

"ELRIC-SENSEI! ELRIC-SENSEI!"

Shit, it was her older brother, Koji! If he came in and saw the tattoo she'd never told him about, he'd freak!

Quickly buttoning up her shirt again and changing back into her Clara persona rather than that of Psiren, she finished just in time for Koji to run into the room.

"We got another notice from Psiren!" Koji declared, running in.

All things were incredibly tense and Koji definitely noticed it. But Clara knew she'd be okay. She was an excellent actor after all and her only brother wouldn't throw her in jail…

Now would he?

* * *

Celina was officially pissed.

First Edward let Psiren/Clara/whatever-her-name-is get away only to find out after the hospital was demolished, she became a member of the local church.

Then the church was destroyed and she became a fucking bread backer.

Then a hotel manager.

Then a mechanic.

Now she was being a fucking school teacher! And she had the gull to give them advice:

"If you're a grown up then think about it for yourself. After all, the best answers are the ones we find on our own."

It was pure insanity and Celina was ready to tear her ears right off her head because of this!


	9. Psiren's Reason, Celina's Reasoning

_Sirens. In mythology, the Sirens were dangerous yet beautiful creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island._

 _Legends say that they lived on small islands called 'Sirenum scopuli' and a few years later, after a bit of research, it was discovered that these supposedly mythical islands were in fact real places and each one was surrounded by cliffs and rocks. Sirens were considered the daughters of a River Goddess who would mate with any of the survivors of the ship-wrecks that the mythical creatures were the cause of._

 _But the Sirens weren't considered Gods or Demi-Gods by their 'inventors'; just mythical creatures with special powers to be weary of. According to ancient records on these mythical beauties, they never appeared in groups larger than five or smaller than two._

 _Even if they weren't gods, though, Sirens were still dangerous._

 _They were called cannibals; but it is believed by some that this is untrue as people who wrote of Sirens often indicated rotting flesh was always around them, suggesting that the men hadn't been eaten, but refused to leave and since the Sirens couldn't feed them, they starved to death._

 _For some time, Sirens were believed to combine women and birds in various ways, strangely enough. In early art, Sirens were represented as birds with large women's heads, bird feathers and scaly feet. Later, they were represented as female figures with the legs of birds, with or without wings, playing a variety of musical instruments, especially harps. Later Sirens were sometimes depicted as beautiful women, whose bodies, not only their voices, are seductive but still bird-like in some aspects. It sounds unusual considering their mother was a River Goddess, but there is method and explanations to this madness._

 _It is assumed birds were their chosen form to take because of their beautiful voices. Some say t_ _hey were given wings by The Goddess of Agriculture to search for her daughter, the_ _Goddess of the Underworld, when she was abducted. However, when the Sirens failed to intervene in the abduction of the Goddess of the Underworld, the Goddess of Agriculture cursed them_ _._

 _According to some, Sirens were fated to live only until the mortals who heard their music were able to pass by them without succumbing to their cursed song._

 _It took me a little while to realize why Clara chose that name for herself and did what she did._

* * *

The dynamic trio wondered the streets of Aquroya, pondering their situation with Psiren/Clara. For the longest time, none of them spoke to each other; none of them knew what to say.

"Extra! Extra!"

The trio lifted their heads to see a crowd gathered near a fountain while a person waved a flag, calling out, "Another notice from Psiren!"

Curiosity getting the best of her, Celina ran off and went up to the man who was selling newspapers about it.

"Excuse me, sir?" She called, putting on her 'Cutesy Mask'.

The man gave her his attention and smiled, "Oh, hello there little one. Would you like to find out what Psiren's going to steal today?"

"Actually," Celina drew out as the Elrics came clanking in behind her, "I wanted to know why everyone was so happy that Psiren was going to steal again. My Mommy always told me that stealing is wrong and so do my Big Brothers, so why does everyone get so excited when Psiren does it? Shouldn't you all be trying to stop her?"

"She's just a common criminal, what's the big deal?" Edward added in.

The man blinked curiously at the trio, "What are you talking about, kids? Psiren saved Aquroya. She's our star of hope."

This shocked the trio.

"Star of hope?" Edward questioned.

"What do you mean, sir?" Alphonse asked.

The newspaper man smiled and sat down on the fountain's edge, "You see kids, they say that Aquroya is the City of Water and rightly so. But it's sinking every day and we have about 5 years until it goes under for good. When that was discovered, everyone fled the city and it looked like all hope was lost for our little island paradise and those of us who couldn't leave were very lonely."

Celina gasped, "How horrible."

"But that changed when Psiren appeared; she brought life back to the city. Reporters from all over the country come here and there are now more tourists than ever, hoping to catch a glimpse of the legendary Phantom Thief in action. Thanks to Psiren, before we disappear under the water, we can go out with a bang. Knowing that our place in history has been marked forever with her name as a signature." He explained.

The trio were speechless.

* * *

The trio sat at an edge of the city, one of Edward's legs dangling, both of Celina's off solid ground and Alphonse's on solid ground.

"What does it all mean, Brother? Could it be that Clara-san became a thief to save the city?" Alphonse asked.

"Maybe. The one thing I can say for sure… is that she tricked me-the Fullmetal Alchemist. She's going to pay for that offence at least." Edward stated.

"It'll be a shame, really." Celina twiddled her fingers, a flower with purple petals between them, "That she's going to pay dearly for that offence."

She lets the flower out of her hands and watches as it descends; spinning all the while, as if trying to stay air born and looking impressive as it attempts, but the feeble flower can't defy the laws of gravity. So it lands in the water and after floating for a second, begins to sink below the waves and far away from Celina's sight.

For a long time, the trio look at where the flower had ended up, but then stand up and walk away, leaving the flower, long dead, to it's watery grave where in five years' time, it'll have company once again.

* * *

When she was pulled out of the water, Clara allowed the men to hand cuff her. She noticed Koji staring at her in shame; she didn't blame him. He'd just realized his innocent and dearest little sister was really a wolf in sheep's clothing.

But it appeared those days were over now; she wasn't Psiren the Alchemical Phantom Thief anymore. She was just Clara Zandgeta; a girl with the ability to take on any job you gave her, change her personality to suit it and the chief of police's little sister.

Who was going to be behind bars soon enough.

"That was pretty sharp there, kid." Clara commented when Edward approached her, Alphonse and Celina in toe, "I'm sure you'll grow into a fine man and if we ever meet again, let's have another round. But next time, as a man and woman."

Celina seemed to find this undeniably funny and was covering her mouth and shaking with suppressed laughter. Edward didn't say a word to her; the boy in the red coat just panted.

"Clara-san…" Alphonse whined.

Clara internally sighed; well, she owed the boy one thing so she may as well repay him.

She bent down and smiled at him, "Let me tell you one last thing. It's about the Philosopher's Stone."

That stopped Celina from trying not to giggle and Edward's panting abruptly ended.

"What?!" The trio asked, quietly.

Clara smiled at them, "Go to the town of Xenotime and have a look around. I heard there's somebody there researching ways to manufacture the stone. I would have stolen it for you if I'd had the chance, but it looks like you're going to have to work for that stone, now."

"Xenotime." Edward repeated, sounding as if he'd never heard the name before.

Celina smiled at the woman, "Ya know something, Clara, now I think I understand why you chose the name Psiren."

Everyone blinked and put their eyes on the girl.

She smirked, "It is said that Sirens were beautiful but deadly mythical creatures who were half woman, half bird and all seductive. Their beautiful songs would lure men into raged rocks where they would meet their doom. And any of the survivors wouldn't want to leave the Sirens for they were completely entranced by their charm and beauty."

Her eyes softened slightly, a sadness creeping into her voice, "I heard that since this city is sinking, it's a bit of a death trap. And though people know this, they come anyway. Why? Because there's something about danger that wakes people want to see if they can live to tell tales of it. Plus, with a gorgeous and daring Phantom Thief roaming the night to sweeten the deal, who wouldn't wanna come?"

Celina gave a final nod as if it all made sense, "So, my conclusion is that Psiren was the perfect name for the Alchemical Phantom Thief of Aquroya. Because she sure as hell lured a lot of people here and she sure was pretty with and without her mask."

Clara looked at the girl in surprise but then laughed.

No one had ever said anything like that to her; nothing like that at all!

Celina grinned again, her teeth shinning slightly.

"Tell you what, honey," Clara finally calmed herself down a bit, "just between us girls, you're gonna be a fine woman one day if you keep that up. Whoever ends up winning your heart will be the luckiest man or woman alive."

"Why thank you, Psiren!" Celina gave a bow, "And just between us girls, while you weren't the most amazing person I've ever known, you're alright. I sure to hope to see more of you in the papers though; I don't think the people of Aquroya are ready to be forgotten just yet."

Clara smiled at the girl a final time and she knew she was right. Even if Psiren was caught, she wouldn't be tamed and caged for long.

She was a Psiren. And no mere mortal could ever keep her under their thumb.


	10. Omake 1: Super Star AU!

**AN: HI EVERYONE!**

 **I've been thinking of practicing and presenting my AUs lately so, if it's okay with you lot, I was thinking of posting a new AU every 10 chapters. Oh and every AU is going to have a song in it, just so you all know and I'll give credit so no worries about that!**

 **If you're not interested, don't read it and don't complain about there not being a new chapter in the review.  
If you are and you like it, go ahead and read as much as you want. A review would also be appreciated.  
If you don't like it after reading it, don't review it, please but thank you for being brave enough to red it.  
But constructive criticism is welcomed by all fans, young and old, female and male, amateur and professional!**

 **Hope you all have a good day and anyone who does read this will enjoy it!**

 **Oh and Merry Christmas/Hanukkah/Any other celebrations held in December!**

* * *

Name: Super Stars AU

Setting: Edward Elric, Celina Tucker, Emma Comet, Nannally Cromwell and Riza Hawkeye are an all-girls band called 'Spit Fire Brats' who are traveling around modern Amestris on tour with their staff, friends, bodyguards and boyfriends who the public don't know about.

Pairings:  
Alphonse/Winry  
Roy/Edward  
Celina/Anand  
Jean/Nannally  
Kain/Comet  
Sheska/Vato  
Maes/Gracia

Mentioned/Possible Pairings:  
Heymans/Astrid  
Anbra/Kyle  
Riza/Miles

Song: Rock 'n Roll  
Artist: Avril Lavigne.

Song Key:  
 **Bold=Edward**  
 _Italics=Celina_  
Underlined=Riza/Nannally/Comet

* * *

" _ **Let 'em know that we're still rock n roll…**_ "

The lights made the stage shine and the crowd cheered as they all started up the instruments.

" **I don't care about my make-up  
I like it better with my jeans all ripped up  
Don't know how to keep my mouth shut  
You say,  
So what (what)?**

 _I don't care if I'm a misfit  
I like it better than the hipster bullshit  
I am a mother freaking princess  
You still love me_

Some-somehow  
 **It's a little different when  
** I'm with you  
 _You know what I really am  
_ All about  
 **You know how it really goes  
** _ **Oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah**_  
Some-some way  
 _We'll be getting out of this  
_ Town one day  
 **You're the only one that I  
** Want with me  
 _You know how the story goes  
_ _ **Oh, oh, oh**_

 _ **When it's you and me  
We don't need no one to tell us who to be  
We'll keep turning up the radio  
What if you and I  
Just put up a middle finger to the sky  
Let 'em know that we're still rock 'n roll**_

 **Rock 'n roll**  
 _Hey hey hey_  
 _ **Rock 'n roll**_ _  
Hey hey hey_

 _Call it a bad attitude dude  
I'm never gonna cover up that tattoo  
I might have a couple issues  
You say, "Me too." (yeah)_

 **Don't care about a reputation  
Must be living in the wrong generation  
This is your invitation  
Let's get wasted**

Some-somehow  
 _It's a little different when_  
I'm with you  
 **You know what I really am**  
All about  
 _You know how the story goes_  
 _ **Oh, oh, oh**_

 _ **When it's you and me  
We don't need no one to tell us who to be  
We'll keep turning up the radio  
What if you and I  
Just put up a middle finger to the sky  
Let 'em know that we're still rock 'n roll**_

 _Rock 'n roll  
_ **Hey hey hey**  
 _Rock 'n roll  
_ **Hey hey hey**  
 _Rock 'n roll, yeah_

 _ **Oh, oh, oh, oh, yeah**_

 **When it's you and me** _ **  
**_ _We don't need no one to tell us who to be_  
We'll keep turning up the radio

 _ **What if you and I  
Just put up a middle finger to the sky  
Let 'em know that we're still rock 'n roll**_

 _ **When it's you and me  
We don't need no one to tell us who to be  
We'll keep turning up the radio**_

 _ **What if you and I  
Just put up a middle finger to the sky  
Let 'em know that we're still rock 'n roll**_

 _ **Rock 'n roll  
Hey hey hey  
Rock 'n roll  
Hey hey hey**_"

This was the final song for the concert, so now was time for the singers to say their good byes.

"Alright everybody, we had a wonderful time and I hope to see you'll again someday!" Celina Tucker yelled, her base guitar slung over her shoulders.

"You can find our new song, Rock 'n Roll, on our YouTue channel." Emma Comet added from behind her drums.

"We had a great time being in this fine Central City, everyone!" Nannally Cromwell cheered, playing a cute little tune on her keyboard.

"Have a save journey home!" Riza Hawkeye added, holding her electric guitar close.

"And remember," Edward Elric began, her mike in her hand, then the rest of the girls joined in, "keep on, keeping on! Because there's a whole wide world out there waiting for you to find your life in it! So you can finally live it!"

The crowd screamed as they went back stage to find the whole gang waiting for them.

Winry Rockbell (their manager), Alphonse Elric (her boyfriend), Anbra Chanty (equipment-experts), Astrid Chanty (secretary manager), Vato and Sheska Falman (main interviewers), Jean Havoc, Kain Fuery (Comet's boyfriend), Roy Mustang, Heymans Breda, Maes and Gracia Hughes (other main bodyguards), Nina Tucker, Elicia Hughes and Anand Shama (Celina's "secret" boyfriend) standing there, smiling at them.

"Another excellent performance from the Spit Fire Brats, I see." Roy stated, smirking at Edward who was his girlfriend and charge, "you guys have gotten really good, you can almost forget Edward ever had any short-comings when it came to performing."

Edward literally pounced on her boyfriend, "WHO ARE YOU CALLING TOO SHORT TO SING INTO A MIKE DECENTLY, ROY YOU SEXY, OBNOXIOUS BASTARD?!"

Roy grinned and moved his arms so he was holding her in a hug, "You, beautiful."

Edward blushed and tried to push away from her lover in embarrassment, "Le-let me go, you cheesy bastard, or your sappiness will rub off o-"

That was when she noticed Roy groping her ass in front of Nina Tucker, Celina's little sister, and Elicia Hughes, Nina's best friend and Maes and Garcia's daughter; which lead to her slapping him and then the pair getting into a wrestling match on the ground. The others ignored this since that was just normal behavior for these two. Instead, they focused on their own partners.

"Is your throat sore after that performance, Nannally?" Jean asked, concerned for his fiance and charge.

Nannally shook her head, smiling and blushing, "No, I'm okay, but it's really sweet of you to worry, Jean."

Jean just brought her in for a hug and the two held each other close as they kissed.

"You were amazing, Em!" Kain stated, looking at his girlfriend and charge Emma with stars in his eyes, "I wish I'd get to see you singing like that more often!"

"Kain," Emma blushed as she whined, "you say that every time a performance ends."

"Well, because it's true." Kain blushed a bit as well, "You are an amazing singing after all, and before that an amazing person too."

Emma's blushing increased as she turned around slightly, "Stop it, you're going to make my face burn off."

"Well, you end up making my heart beat a bit too fast in my opinion, so it's only fair I make sure I give you health problems to." Kain said back to her.

The two of them blushed, laughed awkwardly and then just hugged each other and Kain kissed her cheek, causing her to blush to her ears and neck, but she smiled anyway and kissed his lips.

"Wow, I can't wait to grow up and be on stage with them, can you Elicia?" Nina asked, smiling at the younger girl.

Elicia nodded, looking at Edward like she was a star (which she kinda is), "I wanna be just like Big Brother Edward when I grow up."

Nina giggled and looked in Celina's direction, the same starry expression in her eyes, "I can't wait either."

Maes gushed over how cute his daughter was being, "Oh isn't our baby girl just the cutest thing you've ever seen, Gracia?!"

Gracia, his dearest wife, chuckled, "You ask me that every day, Maes, you should know the answer by now."

"I know, but I just can't help it and how cute do you think our son is going to be when he comes out?" Maes asked.

Gracia chuckled once more, rubbing her barely pregnant stomach, "He'll be as handsome, dorky and cute as his father before him, I'm very sure of that."

Anbra, Riza, Astrid and Heymans sighed all at the same time, a bottle of mild alcohol shared between them.

"I need a boyfriend." Anbra sighed.

"I need some aspirin." Riza groaned.

"I need a date." Heymans agreed.

"I need to get laid." Astrid grumbled.

The 4 sighed again and went back to taking shots of it, making Winry, the band's manager, and Alphonse, Winry's boyfriend and Edward's little brother, sweat-drop.

"We really need to set them up with someone if they're gonna be like this all the time." Alphonse stated.

"Astrid and Heymans would make a good couple." Winry advised.

"What about Anbra?" Alphonse asked.

"You remember our friend Kyle in Youswell? Why not we set her up with him?"

"I think that's a good idea, Win, but what about Riza?"

"You remember Miles, right? Our pen-pal in Briggs? He actually gave me a phone call a few weeks ago saying he was hopping to meet someone special when he joins us on tour as a bodyguard. Maybe he'll like Riza."

"We can only hope."

Vato chuckled as he watched everyone interacting, "And people think celebrities are stuck up snobs who only care about how good they look to the public."

Sheska nodded in agreement, "I think our soon to be written article will be a good one."

"Agreed." Vato stated as he kissed his wife's forehead, gently.

Sheska smiled and hugged him back.

"Never a dull day around here, huh?" Anand asked me, chuckling.

Celina nodded in agreement, "At least we've got such great friends to pick us up after a concert drains us of our energy. And we've got some pretty amazing boyfriends to, since they don't mind it when our professional lives ruin their peaceful ones."

Anand smiled and pulled her into a hug, "I wouldn't mind, even if it got me in trouble. I love you, Celina. I really do."

She hugged him back, "I love you more, Anand." Celina kissed his lips, thinking, " _Much more then I'm willing to admit._ "

* * *

 **How was it guys? I hope you liked it and if anyone wants to write a fanfic based on this, go ahead, just let little old me and May Phantom know you're using our characters and give credit to us. If you have an ideas of what other AUs I should do with these characters, send me a title in a review with a basic setting and I'll take it from there.**

 **Also, does anyone have an idea of what Miles' first name is? Serious, I don't think he has one.**


	11. A Town Living in Memory

_Gold. In chemistry, Gold is an element with the symbol Au (from Latin: aurum), with the Atomic Number 79, is a transition metal and a group 11 element. In art, Gold, also called golden, is one of a variety of yellow-orange color blends used to give the impression of the color of the element._

 _In this day and age, however, gold is more than that. It's part of most currency (money) systems in the world and many people (usually men) are paid fairly well to dig it up from the ground in mines. Often towns are built near gold mines for the sake of the miners and these towns usually become fairly wealthy. But when the gold runs dry, everything goes from paradise to wasteland._

 _Gold is also considered the perfect metal by certain cultures; I can understand why since those in power are usually sitting on piles of gold and wearing golden jewelry like necklaces, or crowns; maybe even earrings._

 _But, as wonderful as it is, Gold is poison._

 _There's nothing wrong with using gold in your currency; if you pay in gold because of the law then you haven't got much choice in the manner. But in the long run, it's just another metal; one that isn't very durable or strong in the end. And having a lot of gold means you're very powerful and power can corrupt. Power is also addictive, sorta making gold addictive too._

 _Sometimes, I have dreams of a world where gold is worthless and I see people exchanging food or materials instead of it. And the materials that are exchanged are actually worth something; like silk for a dress maker, or wood for a builder, or herbs for a sick person._

 _I don't understand why people think gold is so great when the world was fine without it._

 _Why do people have to make things so complicated by bringing worthless things into the equation?_

 _That, in my opinion, is something I will never understand about humans, even if I once was one._

* * *

"I wonder why the Philosopher's Stone would be found in a dusty, old town like this?" Alphonse wondered as the trio got off the train, "It seems impossible that this place was once a bustling and profiting gold mining town."

"Which is why they're all the more likely to be developing a Philosopher's Stone." Edward explained, "Since they stopped being able to get gold out of the mines, they'd want to transmute it with the Philosopher's Stone that much more. This used to be a gold producing area and all, so if they created just a little, no one would suspect a thing, right?"

Celina sighed as she looked at the town of Xenotime; a mansion on a woody hill and a quiet town will buildings and mining equipment that clearly hadn't been used in ages was everywhere and in the sunset light, it looked desolate. It was hard to believe people even lived there.

"Is money all that grownups think about?" Alphonse questioned.

Celina shrugged, "Ehh, who knows? I know Cromwell and the others don't have gold on their minds 24/7, but oth-"

CLANK!

"ELISA! Hey, everyone, give me a hang here!"

The trio turned their heads, Celina's ears twitching under the hat in alarm and her eyes widened in horror at the sight before them; a little girl trapped under a turned over truck.

Instantly, the Chimera was running over, the others right behind her.

* * *

Elisa's eyes made rivers of tears on her young and tiny face. Seeing the little 8 year old crying was a sight that made her father's heart ache intensely.

4 men plus Maxwell tried getting the truck off her, but it wouldn't budge.

"It's no use, it won't budge!" One of them complained.

Sweet, little Elisa lifted her head, "Papa…"

Maxwell was instantly on his knees, but couldn't calm his panicked expression for her, "It's alright! We're going to help you out of there, no matter what!"

"Is anyone hurt?!"

"What's the matter?"

Heads turned to see a man in armour, a boy with a suitcase and a red coat and a girl with hand guns on either side of her hips standing a distance away, the girl slightly ahead of her two companions.

Maxwell didn't care about that, we just wanted to get Elisa out and any more help could be just what they needed.

He stood up and gestured to where Elisa was on the ground with both hands, "My daughter's pinned!"

He saw a shift in the boys' body language and the girl gave a gasp before breaking out into a full blown sprint towards them, the boys right behind her.

When the trio of stranger's got close, the boy fell to a knee and inspected where Elisa was. He stood up and Maxwell saw him smiling at her.

"Just be patient for a bit, okay?" The boy offered.

The girl kneeled down and took Elisa's slightly bruised hands in her own bigger ones, "You'll be okay, kiddo, Edward just needs to cast his spell that will get you out. But you have to help him cast it."

"R-really?" Elisa whimpered.

The girl nodded, "But don't worry, it's easy. You just have to close your eyes, shake my hands and count to three and then you'll be free! I'm Celina, by the way, what's your name?"

"El-Elisa…" Elisa whimpered.

Celina smiled, "That's a great name; now, are you ready to be a big girl and help with the magic, Elisa?"

At Elisa's nod, Celina's reassuring smile widened and then she closed her eyes the same time Elisa did and they started shaking hands, "1…"

The boy, Edward, closed his eyes and clapped his hands.

"2…" Celina counted, now swaying her arms.

Edward opened his and placed his hands on the truck.

"3!" Celina cried, throwing her hands into the air.

There was a massive and blinding burst of light and when the dust settled, the truck had been turned into a pillar of metal and Elisa was free.

Elisa stared in astonishment at the boy and girl, amazed while the adults gaped like fish out of water at the pillar.

Celina grinned and picked up the girl, then held her in her arms properly, "See, you're safe now and it was all because you could help Edward cast his magical spell. You should be very proud of yourself, Elisa-chan."

Edward nodded, making a pose as if he was inspecting the pillar, "Why yes, you should be very proud indeed, Elisa, I don't think I've ever seen a spell turn out this well." He turned his eyes to her and flashed a grin, "In fact, it's the best spell I ever cast thanks to you. You did great, kid."

Elisa blinked at the two then giggled softly, "Tha-thanks for your help, though, I-I'd still be stuck without you."

Celina awed softly, "You're adorable! Come here, I need a cuddle!"

Elisa laughed then and wrapped her arm's around the neck of the strange girl who had somehow managed to help her calm down while Celina helped her get into a more comfortable holding position, swaying softly and bouncing on the backs of her heals as if rocking a child to sleep.

And Maxwell had never been so relieved in all his life to see his little girl laughing because of it.

* * *

Elisa looked up at Celina, Edward and their metal father in admiration; they were so amazing and really funny.

"Wow, to think that an real Alchemist would come along!" Papa cried in happiness and gratitude, "You really came through for us, we're lucky you showed up when you did, thank you! And you too, miss, thanks for helping Elisa keep calm."

Celina grinned again, showing off a fang, "Hey, it was no biggy, pops, we're happy to help. Besides, I would have done it anyway, I love kids."

Elisa grinned at the unnamed man in armour, "Thanks to their metal father, he helped too!"

It was like a silent bomb went off.

The armored man stiffened up and went white while Edward and Celina laughed; Edward quietly into his hand and Celina doubling over and banging the table a little bit in her amusement.

Edward recovered first and pointed at the armored man, casually, "No, no, he's not my father, he's my younger brother and Celina's not my sister."

Celina gave a humourful sigh as she finally calmed down, "Oh Alphonse, you must feel so old right now."

Alphonse turned his head and if it wasn't covered, Elisa thought he'd be pouting, "Just wait until you have kids thinking you're an old lady, Celina. Actually, who are you to talk about being old anyway, how old is 11 in Thylacine years?!"

Celina gaped at him and grabbed around her waist, "Way to hit me below the waist belt, Al, don't you know it's rude to ask a lady about her age?!"

Alphonse snickered at that, "You'd have to be a lady first for it to offend you."

Elisa watched the bickering in confusion, "Younger brother? But he's so much bigger then you, Edward Onii-kun."

Another bomb went off.

Edward stiffened up and turned white while Alphonse laughed behind his hand and Celina pounded on the table again.

"Anyway, we're glad you're not hurt, Elisa-chan." Alphonse stated once he'd recovered.

Celina sighed again, "Yes, that would be the real tragedy here if such a cutey-pie like you'd been hurt."

Elisa felt herself blushing and a giddy happiness filled up her heart; Celina was like an amazing big sister you only ever dreamed about, Elisa really, really liked her. She hoped she would stay.

"ELISA!"

Eyes turned to see a man opening the door and Elisa took a moment to look him up from his toes to his head and saw it was her uncle.

"Is Elisa alright?" Uncle Belsio asked in alarm.

Elisa smiled; she loved her uncle very, very much and he's brought some lemons from the field, that was awesome, "Uncle Belsio!"

She went to go give him a hug because she loved him, but then Papa grabbed her arm and held her in one place. Elisa turned her head to see her Papa looked angry and that was never a good thing, "Papa…"

"Get out." Papa hissed, venomously, "How dare you come into my house after making Elisa help you out in the fields again?!" Papa then turned to look at Elisa; this scared her because he still looked angry, "Elisa, listen to me. No matter what Belsio tells you, you are not to help him out with his work ever again!"

Everyone was very quiet after Papa finished yelling. Elisa didn't understand why Papa and the other grownups didn't like Uncle Belsio; he was a nice man and Papa was yelling at him for no reason.

She had to defend him!

"No!" Elisa yelled, "It wasn't Uncle Belsio's fault, I begged him to let me help him out, Papa, don't be mad at him!"

Her throat started hurting and suddenly, she was coughing again. Elisa hated it when she started coughing, it made her look weak and she couldn't be weak right now. Not when Uncle Belsio needed her to be strong and stand up for him.

"Here, Elisa," Celina was at her side and held out a glass of water, "this'll make you feel better."

Elisa took the glass from Celina's hand and started taking little sips from it. Celina pulled her into a half hug and drew little circles on her back while she drank the water.

She heard the sound of something being put on the table and turned to see Uncle Belsio at the door, ready to leave again.

"I'm sorry." He said and left the house, closing the door behind him.

And Elisa felt horrible. Papa and Uncle Belsio were always getting into fights because she was always trying to help out. She didn't like that all the grownups except Uncle Belsio only cared about getting that stone with the funny name so they could get gold from the mines again. Everyone should be focusing on making food like Uncle Belsio was.

Elisa loved her Papa and nearly everyone else in town, but she really didn't understand the way grownups think sometimes.

* * *

"Uncle Belsio always told me your lemon pies were always the best, Papa." Elisa said, looking at the basket of lemons, sadly, "And, that it was a shame there were so few farms left in town. I thought that if I helped, I could taste your pie."

Celina felt her heart bleed for the poor girl; family quarrels were hard, especially when you were stuck in the middle because you tried to help and it was always frightening when adults started yelling at each other in such venomous tones. Celina should know since she grew up with those sounds.

And from the looks of things, Elisa's words had hit everyone pretty hard if the silence and faces were anything to go by.

Then, one of the towns men said, "Don't worry, once we get the Philosopher's Stone finished, we'll all be rich," people started perking up at that, "then we can by import all the food we want from some other town!"

The trio were instantly at attention, "The Philosopher's Stone?!"

"Yes!" Elisa's father declared, looking at the Elrics with new hope in his eyes, "You two must have come to assist Mugear-sama in his research, to create the Philosopher's Stone, right?"

Edward only blinked. That was all the towns people needed to start yapping their gums like lunatics.

"Alchemist-san, please do everything in your power!"

"Create the Philosopher's Stone as soon as you can!"

"We want to go back to Xenotime being the Town of Gold, again!"

"No matter what!"

"We must reclaim what's rightfully ours!"

"That's right!"

"We're counting on you, Master Alchemist!"

"Our children must not suffer any longer!"

The towns people crowded around the trio, even little Elisa.

Edward was sweat-dropping; Celina knew she didn't like being crowded around, "It looks like there's a lot of pressure on us, huh, guys?"

Celina and Alphonse nodded.

Edward turned her head slightly, "In any case, I guess we'll see if we can help this Mugear person."

"Before you go," one of the farmer's said, "would you please tell us the names of our town's saviors."

"I'm Edward. Edward Elric the Fullmetal Alchemist." Edward grinned as she pointed at herself.

Alphonse copied his older sister, thumb pointing at himself, "I'm his brother, Alphonse. Alphonse Elric."

Celina grinned, giving a small wink at Elisa, "I'm Celina Tucker, gun-slinging wolf of the Elrics, if you please. But Celly's just fine."

The entire room blinked.

"The Elric Brothers and Wolf? The State Alchemist, Hero of the People, Elric?" Someone asked.

"Hell yeah!" Edward nodded.

* * *

WHACK!

The trio cried out as they were thrown out of the Inn, their faces in the dirt. Like a spring, with a gasp, Edward was on her hands and knees, snarling up at the town's people while Alphonse got up, mentally sweat-dropping and Celina lifted her upper body, but she didn't show her face.

Edward hissed, "What did you do that for?!"

Elisa's father growled, "You shut up! The real Elric Brothers and Wolf are already up there working their asses off to save our town!" He pointed at the mansion on the hill, "Come back when you're ready to be honest and tell us your real names!"

With that, the door was slammed shut.

"Why…" Celina's voice shook as she spoke.

Alphonse gave her his attention.

She lifted her head, showing off tears of distress, "Why does this always happen to us?!" The Chimera broke out into hysterical crying, "Is it because I'm just that ugly, and creepy and stupid-"

She trailed off into intelligible insults to herself, causing Alphonse to panic.

"No, that's not true at all, Celina!" He cut in placing a hand on her shoulder, "You're great, really."

She continued to insult herself as if she didn't hear him and he attempted to make her feel better with comforting words. And among the chaos, Edward continued to stare intently at the mansion, the gears turning her head.


	12. The Other Elrics

_Identity Theft. While use of a fictitious name by an Author or a false name to protect oneself is not necessarily unlawful, identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else's identity and is unlawful._

 _Usually used as a method to gain a financial advantage or obtain credit and other benefits in the other person's name and perhaps to the other person's disadvantage or loss, identity theft is fast becoming one of Amestris' worst crimes, especially since a lot of people can suffer because of it._

 _The person whose identity has been assumed may suffer adverse consequences if they are held responsible for the perpetrator's actions. Identity theft occurs when someone uses another's personally identifying information, like their name, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes._

 _But a lot of people these days don't think it's a really big deal; I mean, nothing wrong with playing pretend right? Just a little joke pulled by the neighborhood pranksters, Officer, no harm intended, really. It was just a bit of a laugh, right boys?_

 _Well stop laughing people._

 _Identity Theft is, in fact, a serious crime in Amestris._

 _You can and often will be imprisoned and killed for it, especially if you take the identity of a military personnel. Amestris is very protective of it's military and if you ever want to piss of the army, the best way to do it is pretend to be a high ranking officer and then cause trouble._

 _But I can understand why someone would do that for more than a joke._

 _Sometimes, life screws you over and that can be hard to handle when you have to worry about more than just number one. And if some naive idiot believes you when you tell them who you're not, it's not your fault they believe you, they're the idiots._

 _But do your reasons make what you're doing right?_

 _No they don't; at least not in my opinion. But who am I to judge when I'm just mortal?_

* * *

"Who the hell's been using our names, here and why would they in the first place?" Edward hissed, looking at the guards at the front gate.

"Question 1: It's someone with a stick up their ass a goal they're willing to accomplish by any means and a death wish in their pocket. Question 2: Because they're a complete idiot; or a gang of idiots." Celina growled, cracking her knuckles.

Alphonse was nervous, "Brother, Celina, are you two really planning to sneak in?"

The teenager turned around, "Of course **we** are, Al! I'm confront those impostors, Celina's gonna slap them around a bit and then we're gonna have them tell us all about the Philosopher's Stone!" The blonde turned to the tiger-haired girl, "Sound good?"

Celina grinned, showing off a fang, cracking her knuckles, "Sounds perfect. But…" She turned her eyes on Alphonse, mischief alight in them, "there's no 'I' in team and whoever said three's a crowd was an idiot. Plus, since when did we not include you in our plans, Al, old buddy, old friend, old pal?"

Alphonse was terrified; he really, really hated her evil eyes and even though he didn't have a body, he knew wherever it was, it was shivering. He may love Celina like a little sister, but she still scared him.

Helping the girls get over the wall and then they hauled him up, the trio hid behind a patch of bushes/trees, then snuck over to the next path with Edward first, Alphonse next and Celina taking up the back. Not a single guard noticed them as they reached the building.

Once they'd pressed their backs to the wall, Celina took one final look around the corner and turned back around, nodding. Edward nodded back and clapped her hands, placing them on the wall. A flash of light later, a door appeared and the trio crawled inside in the same order they arrived.

"Looks like we popped up in a library or reference room." Celina stated, looking around the room in half boredom and half curiosity.

Alphonse really didn't know how she managed to look like the polar opposites of an expression at the same time; it was like her secret talent. Or one of her secret talents at least.

"Look at this," Edward called, gaining the pairs attention; she gestured to the book shelf as she placed the book she'd grabbed back in it "they're all books on the Philosopher's Stone."

"Well, we know what their hobby is." Celina said, in an upbeat and cheery-ish tone, "They're probably doing it in the comfort of this mansion, too."

Alphonse nodded his head, "No doubt about it."

A door grimly creaked open. "This place is off-limits to unauthorized personnel. I would suggest you leave while you have the chance."

The trio turned around and faced what was waiting for them. Standing in the light of the doorway were 3 boys.

The first boy was standing smugly with his hands in his pants pockets and looking down on them. He was a really tall boy with lemon blonde hair and a curled fringe which covered one of his sky-blue eyes; his skin was pale but not sickly so. He was wearing a white dress shirt tucked into his dark blue pants with the top button undone and the sleeves rolled up. He had brown shoes.

Behind the tall boy, a very short (only coming up to the taller boy's armpits) and frightened looking boy hid; he had the same color features as the tall boy, only his hair was spiky. He was wearing a grass green headband of some sort that had floppy sides which covered his ears, a white short-sleeved shirt, grass green dungarees and the same brown shoes.

The last boy was glaring at the miss-match trio in obvious suspicion and anger; he was not pleased. He had a right orange eye and a left green eye, pale skin and dark-red hair that was kept in a braid and framing his face. He was wearing a white jacket with tails, a black shirt and jeans and brown shoes.

Alphonse spoke up, fearful if the girls spoke, there'd be a riot, "By any chance, are you guys-"

"Steeling our names?!" Edward hissed cutting in as she turned around.

The boy in armour mentally sighed; too late, now the sparks are gonna fly.

Celina grinned, cracking her knuckles (how could she do that again after doing it so many times already?) again, showing off a fang, "There are the three famous impostor Elric trio I've heard so much about. You ready for an ass kicking?"

The glaring boy raised an eyebrow, "I take it you're the real Elric trio; the Brothers and their Wolf in shining armour? From my information, you're supposed to be a guy."

The tall boy smirked, "I'm guessing the brother in armour is the Fullmetal Alchemist then."

Alphonse sweat-dropped; not again, please not again.

His older sister started dancing around, "No, you dolt, I'm Edward Elric, that's my younger brother, why does everybody always think that?!"

The timid boy peaked out, curiosity spiked, "Huh? So you're the **older** brother?"

"DAMN RIGHT, GOT A PROBLEM WITH IT?!" Edward blew up, steam coming out of her ears and her head becoming a balloon.

The timid boy hid again while the glaring one's anger rose and the tall boy smiled, before turning back to them, "Try to tone it down a notch. The security guards will realize you're here if you don't calm down."

For one of the few times in her life, Edward shut up.

The tall boy stepped forward, "How bizarre. The real younger brother wears armour, huh? For protection, I'm guess. And the real wolf is in fact a cat?"

A tick mark appeared on Celina's head; oh shit, "WHAT. DID. YOU. CALL. ME?!"

The tall boy continued advancing, his direction altering so he was heading more towards Edward, "You sure don't look like you're 14, it's hard to believe. And the girl looks more like a 15 year old then an 11 year old."

Alphonse was surprised, "How do you know so much about us?"

The glaring boy scoffed and moved forwards, coming closer to Celina, "You're the most famous trio of militarists in the country, there are probably stories about you all the way in Xing after you two having spent at least 3 years gallivanting around the country."

"I'm 12 years old thank you and it's been 4 years, actually." Celina cut in, glaring at him and taking a step forward.

Now Celina and Edward were standing directly in front of their impostors.

Edward spoke, "You wanna go ahead and start something with me, asshole?"

The tall boy grinned, "No, I'd much rather you go home then fight you. Just let us take care of things around here."

"I'm afraid we can't do that until we at least know why you're pretending to be us. Identity theft is a serious crime and since Edward's from the military, he has the authority to warrant your arrest." Celina advanced.

"We aren't inclined to tell you anything, kid. And how'd you arrest us with no evidence?" The glarer also advanced.

"You've got all of Xenotime thinking you're the Elrics; that's all the evidence we need." The Chimera hissed, "And as for your friend over there, is that any attitude someone who's asking for something should have?"

"She's right, that's not the way you beg someone to do something." Edward nodded and indicated for the floor, "On your knees!"

No one moved.

Edward growled, pointing downwards rapidly, "Stop looking down on me, I said, get down on the ground."

The tall one continued smirking and shrugged, taking his hands from his pockets, "Why, so we can see eye-to-eye? Who'd have thought that would bother you so much; but then again, you are 15 and you look 12. But I'd think you'd be used to people looking down on you by now."

Oh on.

Edward made for a punch to his face with her right hand, but the tall boy simply moved. A tick mark appeared on her head and she tried with her left; same results. Two tick marks. Edward tried two fast punches at his face and one for his stomach with her left hand; he dodged them. The secret girl tried one last punch for his face, but this time, the tall boy caught it instead.

The tall boy smirked, raising Edward's fist a bit higher, "Automail, huh? Looks like the real Edward has seen some action, too."

Edward gave a pained grin, "By saying that, you sound like you haven't had it easy either, but you got skills cause of it and it doesn't bother me too much. I'm just glad you're not…" She raised her left foot for a kick, "damaging my name!"

The tall boy dodged it (barely, some of his hair came off) and skidded backwards. Edward gave a battle cry and charged him. The tall boy reacted fast and punched Edward in the cheek; she was sent flying into a bookcase, but she softened the landing with her metal foot.

Edward growled, glaring at him.

"FFFFFFFFFIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHTTTTTTTTTTTT!" Celina screamed, charging her own impersonator.

"Damnit, I didn't want to fight, especially against a girl." The glaring boy growled, orange eye twitching.

Celina got right up close and personal with her impostor, sending a punch towards his eye, but the boy caught it and pulled it past him, forcing Celina to stumble and fall when he let go. The girl growled, whipping around and going for another punch, but he side stepped it and slipped two of his fingers into one of the belt loops of her jeans. Her face turning completely pink, the impostor pulled the girl closer to him and flipped their positions, so Celina had her back to a book case and he was ready to fight.

He smirked at her, "I'd much rather look at your adorable face then be forced to throw punches at it."

And she smirked back, "Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not adorable; I'm fucking gorgeous."

Then she pulled a bit of a cheap shot; she kicked him between his legs. Alphonse howled along with the boy and covered his crutch; that looked painful!

The boy on the ground wheezed, "Why you… bitch."

Celina laughed and stuck her tongue out at him, blowing him a raspberry. The impostor jumped to his feet and tackled Celina to the flour and the two engaged in a wrestling match.

The tall boy smirked, "Ya know, I've always wanted to have a look at the skills of a State Alchemist. And if that's what their pet wolves can do, then I'm just all the more curious now."

Edward grinned back, "And I think you're gonna be sorry you asked!"

Edward clapped her hands, sending Alchemy into the ground and causing curved spikes to jump out, heading straight for the tall boy. He ran into the maze of bookcases, effectively missing the attack. The blonde grit her teeth.

"Not bad. You don't need a transmutation circle, huh?"

Heads turned to where the tall boy emerged and slapped his own hands down; red lighting rose up and spikes similar to Edward's appeared.

Alphonse gasped, "He didn't use a transmutation circle either!"

"ALPHONSE!"

Edward tackled him out of the way and into another part of the maze where Celina and her own impostor were still brawling. Celina screamed as he rammed her against a bookcase.

He snarled in her face, "Do you have any idea how hot I'm finding this?"

"No," She pulled two heavy books from the book case and slammed them on the sides of his head, causing him to drop her and fall to the ground, "and I don't particularly care because you're a lot easier to hit on when you're on the flour and can't use your damn height to your advantage."

"That isn't very fair, though, doll face." He snarled, reaching up and pulling her down by her waist, causing her to practically land in his lap, "You're supposed to use your advantages, aren't you?"

Celina crashed her head against his forehead and punched him in the face. Alphonse felt really sorry for that guy right now and very glad that he didn't have a body whenever he fought with her. Celina was a brutal and frightening opponent.

"Have you got a Philosopher's Stone?!" Edward demanded her impersonator.

The tall boy grinned, straightened his posture and huffed. Edward snarled at him.

"What was that noise just now?!"

"You've only noticed all that commotion now?!"

"It came from in here."

"This way!"

Everyone stopped and turned their eyes to the open doorway.

* * *

Celina, Edward and Alphonse looked up at the glittering night sky, the world illuminated by moonlight. They were sat on a hill, a little ways away from the town and surrounded by abandoned and rusting mining equipment.

"Damn it!" Edward cursed, lying on her back with her arms folded behind her head, "I ache all over!"

Celina groaned, massaging and rolling her left shoulder, sitting with her legs crossed and her cap in her other hand, "I feel ya, sister."

"Those impostors sure were powerful, huh?" Alphonse asked, arms folded over his legs.

Edward tusked, "That was just some booster's power!"

"Those guys did have a few good right hooks on them, though." Celina growled, "For someone who claimed he didn't like fighting women, he sure didn't go easy on me." But then she smiled a little, almost bitterly, "He didn't even react when my hat fell off; he just fought me as if I was another opponent."

Secretly, she was happy. Celina wasn't a pain addict or anything, but these days, whenever she showed her ears to anyone, they'd start calling her a freak and be angry, or a slut and start making suggestive advances on her or just be scared and run off like the devil was on their heels. Not him, though.

He didn't treat her like a freak, or a girl, or as anything but an enemy in that fight and for once, Celina was grateful to the lack of discrimination. Perhaps if he'd thought of her as a girl, he'd wouldn't have hit her so hard, or if he'd been surprised by her ears, she could have gotten an extra hit in. But no; he didn't so much as flinch and he barely acknowledged the ears. A quick glance and that was that.

After the fight, he'd even shown her a little kindness.

* * *

" _CEL! AL!" Edward yelled, running out the door, "Let's go!"_

" _We're coming!" Alphonse cried, turning around to Celina, "Come on, Celly!"_

" _I can't!" Celina cried, looking around frantically, "I have to find-"_

" _Yo, Wolf!"_

 _Turning her head, her cap landed on her face and then fell into her hands._

 _Her impostor smirked at her and winked, "Can't have you losing things, now can we?"_

 _Celina didn't have the time to thank him; Alphonse was already dragging her outside._

* * *

He'd gone out of his way to do that and while he'd talked as if he was a smooth-as-all-hell-ladies' man, he'd treated her like any other opponent, she could see it in his eyes that he didn't discriminate people during a fight. It was a nice change to be treated as an opponent rather than a monster, even if it was by the enemy.

"I wonder if that means they've completed the Stone, yet." Alphonse thought out-loud.

Celina shrugged, "Maybe? Who knows, really."

Edward huffed and sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs, "I don't know, but we'll make sure to find out soon."

The trio stared at the sky, a cloud closing in and covering the bottom of the moon.

"Ya know, I wonder what their real names are," Alphonse whispered, "or it the blonde ones were brothers at all."

"I was thinking the same thing about their substitute wolf." Celina grinned, "Since he obviously didn't know my name or that I was a girl, I wonder what he told people he was called."

Alphonse added, "And I wonder if the older brother is actually much older then you, Edward-"

There was yelling and the sound of metal making contact with more metal and then metal crashing to the flour and yelping.

"Don't go judging us just on our size, it doesn't mean anything!" Edward growled, fist to the right side of her body.

Celina shook her head, chuckling, "I give up with you two."

* * *

He always hated this lab, this town. Everything stank of sickness and misery; he couldn't freaking wait for his blonde-besties to finally finish that stupid stone and be done with this place. He wanted to go back East already; they had nice, hot chilly-dogs there. Well, not as hot as the original Wolf of Elrics, but still pretty hot…

Where did that come from?

"Brother, I think we should just give this ruse up already." The sensible, younger brother whimpered, "If those three tell the government or the authorities what's going on, we could get in trouble and get turned in. Then what?"

Finally, someone is talking sense!

"Yeah, let's hit the highway, already!" He insisted, shifting his white jacket a little, "I've got places to see, peoples to meet and things to eat!"

The food in this town was horrible, too, that was another big reason as to why he wanted to get out of here already. He wanted his fucking chilly-dogs again.

"Don't worry, no one around here is going to believe what they say." The idiot, older brother assured, not looking back at his brother or friend, "And if you're that eager to leave, D, why haven't you yet?"

D smirked, "Someone has to keep you nerds safe from the jocks in this place. Plus, you guys work fast, so you're obviously gonna finish it soon, you've been at this for, like, 2 months and I can smell a breakthrough coming around the corner."

"Then shut up and quit complaining; we will be done soon." The taller guy didn't look at them, just continued studying that weird red liquid and taking notes.

The more timid of the brothers was staring at a plant with withered leaves, "I hope it works out that smoothly."

"Well, I'm not about to let Mugear get the credit for the research Dad spent his whole life on." The older brother insisted, ignoring his younger sibling's statement.

The younger blonde turned around, as did D, "But, what if-"

"Don't worry." The idiot brother didn't even look up, "If it comes down to that, I'll make sure you two get away safe. No matter what."

Eyes a light with sadness, the younger brother whispered, "Brother, you don't get it, do you?" He turned around, his hands becoming fists on the window sill, "That won't make me or D happy. We're not worried about ourselves. There's a lot more going on here than that."

D sighed; these two brothers were usually great together, but from the looks of things, there was a rift growing between them. And it was all because of this damn stone they're trying to make because Uncle Nash spent his whole life on the exact same dream.

Wherever Nash was, D hoped the bastard was happy.

* * *

"Looks like that cheek's starting to cool down, huh, Ed?" Celina inquired, smiling.

Edward somewhat ignored her, grateful to her adorable little brother who was kind enough to lend her his leg to calm down her swelling cheek.

She sighed; this was so good, "Your leg is like a ice-pack, thanks so much, Al."

Her adorable and precious little brother giggled, a sound that only Al could make sound male, "I'm happy to be of comfort to you, Brother, even if I'm trapped in this body."

A bit of guilt began coiling in her stomach as she heard these words.

Celina made a sound of happiness and sounds of her palm being placed on his metal arm filled the silent night for a moment, "Well, in a few short weeks, I'm sure you'll get to be useful to Edward with a perfectly normal body, Al. Ain't that right, Ed?"

Edward's smile widened; God, Celina always knew what to say somehow, "Damn straight."

CRUNCH!

Everyone jumped to their feet, ready for action, Celina tugging her hat back on her head. Standing behind them was the man from the Inn who'd brought the group lemons; Belsio. He had a shovel with him.

"You were at the Inn this evening." Edward identified.

"Mr Belsio, right?" Celina checked, "You gave Elisa some lemons?"

Belsio just looked at them with little interest, "If you guys need a place to board up, you can stay with me."

"Huh?" The trio inquired, curious.

* * *

Belsio guided the two boys and girl to his house; they were an odd group. A boy in armour, an Alchemist and a gun-slinging pre-teen. But who was he too but into their business?

"Thank you so much for helping us out." The Armour Boy thanked him.

"Yeah, thanks and thanks again." The girl grinned, looking up from cleaning her pistol, "I have to thank you twice because, once for me and once for Edward, since he's too prideful to say anything."

Then she went back to cleaning, humming a tune that sounded faintly like "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield. Good song, the girl had great taste in musicians, he'll give her that much.

Belsio placed a bowl of water and a wash-cloth on the table for the bruised Alchemist, "I couldn't very well let you children sleep outside, now could I?"

He felt the eyes of the Alchemist boring into his back, "You're not going to ask us what our names?"

Belsio merely washed his lemons in a spare bowel, "You're the Elric Trio, right? The two Brothers and their Wolf? That's what you say, isn't it?"

The Armour Boy stood up, gasping excitedly; Belsio could hear the metal clank as he moved. "Then you believe us?"

He paused in the washing, "Honestly, no, not in the least." He really didn't, but, "I just think that everyone has their own reasons for doing things; I'm sure you're not exception. Makes no difference to me, I'm not the one who bears responsibility. To each their own."

He heard the girl had put her gun down after he'd finished talking (he turned around to see why) and then started clapping, "Truer words were never spoken, nice opinion, Mr Belsio! Thank God someone thinks like that."

He honestly wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or if she meant it. She sounded like she did since she didn't use a sarcastic tone, but you could never tell with kids these days. But considering she was cleaning a gun like she'd done it 100 times before, these guys weren't normal children.

"You don't appear to have any interest in the Philosopher's Stone like your neighbors are, huh?" The Alchemist stated, golden eyes intense.

Belsio turned back around and gazed out the window, "The folks in this town are still unable, or unwilling, to forget the wealth that gold has brought them," he looked into the water, "so Mugear has them wrapped around his little finger."

He felt the children stare at him, as if also trying to figure out the answers, but none of them made a comment after that.

Eventually the girl finished cleaning the parts of her gun and started putting it back together, "Once this is done, I'm gonna hit the hay."

The Armour Boy stated, "It is a bit late."

The Alchemist chuckled, "Let's all go to bed, then. Celina, we'll keep the quilts warm while you finish up here."

"Okay, goodnight Edward. Goodnight Alphonse." Celina had a smile in her voice, "I love you guys."

Edward and Alphonse also spoke with smiles, "We love you to, Celly."

The chairs scraped on the floor as the brothers stood up and left and about 5 minutes later, they scraped again as Celina got up as well. He heard her walk towards the hallway, before stopping.

"Goodnight Mr Belsio; thanks again." He heard her giggle and then she skipped off before he could say something.

They were an odd lot, those three. But then again, he wasn't so normal, either.

* * *

Morning came early for Elisa; she needed to get to Uncle Belsio's quickly before Papa noticed she was gone. She didn't care about what happened yesterday, it was her fault for taking that shortcut near the abandoned mines. And besides, if she didn't help her Uncle, who would?

"Good morning, Uncle Beliso!" Elisa called, running into his place and then she gasped, "Celina Onee-chan!"

Celina grinned at her and waved, "Hey there, kiddo."

Elisa laughed and lunged for the older girl, who caught her and held her in her arms. Celina was so strong to carry her, even Papa couldn't carry her anymore. She liked being carried a lot.

"If you keep coming to my place and your father finds you here, he won't be happy." Uncle Belsio warned, once she and Celina had stopped giggling, "You're going to get yelled at by your Papa again."

"No problem and not to worry," Elisa grinned, tossing her arms behind her head while Celina held her better in her arms, "Papa's all wrapped up in talk about the gold mine, so he won't notice."

"Besides," Celina grinned, turning Elisa around a little, "I can look after her, so if her Dad does notice she's gone, I'm sure he won't be too mad considering a capable and trustworthy woman like myself is looking after her."

"Trustworthy, yes. Capable, I think you need to check that one. Woman is definitely inaccurate, though."

Elisa and Celina turned their heads to see the fake Elric Brothers arriving.

"Shut up, Edward, it's too early for sarcasm." Celina groaned, "You can complain once we've got something in our stomachs. Speaking of," Celina put Elisa on the ground and she crouched so she could look her in the eye, "have you eaten yet, honey?"

Elisa nodded, then she turned her head so she could properly see Edward and Alphonse. She noticed Edward's cheek was swelling and went to touch it, but he covered it, "Wow, that looks like it hurt! Did somebody hid you because you were telling lies, again?"

Edward pouted, looking annoyed at the ceiling and away from Elisa, "I'm telling you, kid, we're not the impostors here but I did get clocked by one of them."

Celina chuckled, ruffling Elisa's hair and making her giggle, "Get over yourself, Ed; you're the one who threw the first punch, even if he did call you short."

Elisa was a little scared now, "You don't mean you're the ones who snuck into Mugear-sama's mansion last night, Pretend Brothers, Big Sister?"

"Of course we did!" Edward snapped, turning back around, "We can't just let those phony impostors run off with our names and get away with this, ya know!"

"Edward!" Celina hissed, "Shut up and don't yell at her!"

Edward was flabbergast, "I'm not yel-"

"Elisa-chan," Celina spoke softly, turning Elisa around slowly so they were eye-to-eye with each other, "while it is true we snuck into the mansion, I promise you, we only did it because we wanted to help you. Edward and Alphonse are Alchemists and thought they could help the Elric Brothers with making the Philosopher's Stone. But then the Elrics started taunting us so Edward and I ended up in a fight with them and we had to run off." Celina looked down, ashamed and then offered her a weak smile, "I'm sorry we caused such a ruckus, Elisa and I'm sorry if we scared you. Could you ever find it in your heart to forgive us?" Celina fluttered her eyes a little and made a puppy face.

And Elisa giggled, "Of course I can forgive you, you were only trying to help us!"

Edward folded her arms, "Besides, using Alchemy to make gold is no small matter-"

"Unlike you!" Celina laughed.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SMALL HE'D BE TOO TINY FOR AN ATOM TO SEE?!" Edward shrieked.

Celina laughed again, "Sorry, Ed, but you left yourself wide open right then and there. I couldn't help it. Besides, let's not squabble over something so small; it makes even Elisa appear older than us." Celina leaned down and squeezed her shoulders a little, flashing a grin, "Right kiddo?"

Elisa giggled; she loved Celina already, she was really funny, "Righty-right."

Edward sighed and turned her attention to the door, "I'm going to see what's happening in town and what I can find out."

"Without any breakfast?!" Celina practically cried.

"Brother!" Alphonse groaned, looking as if he was about to go chase him, but slumped with a sigh.

"Hey, Armour Boy, Gun Girl!"

Elisa, Alphonse and Celina turned their heads towards Uncle Belsio after he called them, "Yes?"

"How would you like to run down to the drugstore for me today?" Uncle Belsio asked, "I'd like for you to get Elisa's medicine, and your companion needs a compress too, right?"

Celina nodded, "Okay, we can go, no worries." Celina kneeled a bit and held up her hand, smiling at Elisa, "Later, kiddo."

Elisa giggled and high-fived her, "Later, Onee-chan! Be back soon with Edward Onii-chan and Alphonse Onii-chan!"

"Don't worry, I will be." Celina grinned, standing up, "Let's shake it, Al!"

"Right!" Alphonse cried.

With that, the two were off, heading into town with the early morning light making them look like superheroes. And Elisa was already curtain that's what they were so this only proved it for her.

* * *

"Finally, we found it." Celina muttered, looking at the sign that said 'Pharmacy' in Amestrian Characters.

Alphonse nodded, "Looks like we did; let's go."

Without needing to be told, the two went in, unaware they had eyes on them. The second they entered, the gossiping started.

"My word, don't look now but two of those phonies just walked in."

"The armour and the guns, the Alphonse and Dillan impostors."

"The gull of them, showing their deceitful faces in here."

"Oh dear, I wish those trouble makers would hurry up and leave."

"I just know they were the ones who caused all that ruckus last night."

"Who else would do such a horrible thing as break into Mugear-sama's mansion to rob him last night but these three trouble makers?"

Celina bit back a growl and a sneeze; this place reeked of sickness and disgust. It wasn't anywhere near as bad as it was in Liore with the whine-fountain, but oh God, did it stink! She hated her sensitive nose so much right now.

The other people who weren't gossiping were either glaring at them, wearing facial masks or coughing into their hands.

" _Humans are so annoying._ " Celina thought, annoyed, " _I can't wait to get out of this cursed town and punch that tall, red-haired idiot in the face again._ "

Alphonse sighed, almost as if he could hear her thoughts and Celina felt shame smack her in the face. It's not like she was human, not as far as anatomy went, but she knew the brothers still thought of her as human as much as she thought of them as humans. Yet, here she was, thinking as if she was superior to them in some way just because of some idle gossip.

Celina hated her head so much and she missed Logan.

When she was 9, she started noticing him talking to her less and less, he didn't even appear in her dreams and she didn't see any of the other pack members for ages. Then, one day, about two months before her 10th birthday, she finally had a dream about Logan; but he'd looked so ill and tired, like he'd just turned 114 years old. He'd said he'd taught her everything he could and then just, vanished.

And when she woke up, she just knew, he wasn't in there anymore. Curious, she did some research into it and found out Thylacines can only live for about 5-7 years, 9 at most. And he'd been 3 when he merged with her, so maybe her age became his age or something like that; either way, Logan's spirit had finally moved on.

Celina had never felt so empty before in her life. The first few weeks without him had been hard, really hard, but she didn't dare tell anyone why she'd been so upset and snappy. She'd just apologized for whatever she'd said or done after she'd calmed down. It took her finally making a small grave for him at the unoccupied Tucker Estate that had somehow wound up in her belonging for her to finally start feeling better.

"Hey, you!"

Snapping out of memory lane, Celina and Alphonse gave their full attention to a grumpy looking woman with a tall brush in her hands and a white coat.

"What are you doing here?!" She snarled, running over to the duo. Alphonse tried to speak, but she screeched at him, "We don't have any medicine that treats liars!" She started waving the brush at them like a weapon, "Go on! Go on!"

The two ended up kicked out before they could utter a word, the door slamming shut in front of them.

Celina, completely outraged, yelled back, "Well we don't need any medicine from someone who won't help someone just because they lied!" She huffed and spat at the ground, "Dick."

Alphonse slumped, sighing, "I give up, I can't buy any medicine like this."

"Why does everyone in this town think we're the bad guys, seriously, what's wrong with these people?!" Celina ranted, annoyed, then she growled, "Elisa needs her medicine, damn it!"

"Well, if you want, Wolf, we can get that medicine for you."

Yelping in shock, the duo turned around to see the short blonde boy from the mansion and the heterochromic-eyed boy who was impersonating Celina standing behind them, the blonde smiling in apology and the red-head smugly.

"An Equivalent Exchange to make up," the shorter boy looked up at Alphonse, shyly, "for lying and us borrowing your identities."

Celina glared at them, at first, but slowly nodded and then scoffed, "Fine. We need a compress and cough medicine."

The redhead grinned, "And maybe something to appease your attitude, Wolf? I have a lot of knowledge when it comes to pleasing women."

Celina blushed to the tips of her ears and scoffed, "Normally I'd say 'then would you please leave me alone'; but I'd much rather find out your name so I can then kick your ass for talking to me like that."

The redhead grinned, "Dillan. And yours, beautiful?"

"Celina Tucker," She nodded, "and thanks for acknowledging that fact, though I already knew it."

Dillan nodded, "Confident and smart-mouthed, nice combo. Could I maybe get your sign while we're at it?"

"I don't know why that's a pick-up line," Celina scoffed, "but are you ever going to get the medicine we need, or what?!"

Dillan smiled at her and nodded, "Sure thing, just hang on a second, you've got something on your face."

"Really?" She asked, turning to Alphonse, "What is it?"

"The definition of perfect." Dillan grinned.

Celina growled, her face cherry-red, "JUST GET THE DAMN MEDICINE ALREADY, YOU WOMANIZING ASSHOLE, OR I'LL FUCKING DECK YOU!"

Heads turned, Alphonse went to held her back, the blonde looked incredibly nervous, Dillan grinned and blew Celina a kiss as he entered the Pharmacy and all Celina could do was growl and hiss and spit and curse the flirting ass-hole.

" _I take back what I thought about him in the fight,_ " Celina hissed, " _he's nothing more than a pompous prick with his mind in the gutter._ "

* * *

As soon as the door closed behind him, Dillan burst out into a full-blown blush and slumped, "Damn it, I'm an idiot, she probably hates me right now."

"Dillan!"

The boy lifted his head to see the Pharmacy owner's daughter, Yasmin. Her hair was muddy brown, her skin pale and her eyes were blue. She was wearing a doctor coat, some back jeans and a red shirt. She was currently behind the counter, waving at him.

Dillan smiled at his 18-year-old friend, talking towards her, "Hey, Yasmin. What's up?"

"Nothing really, kid," She shrugged, "Aunt Roxy just chased out a pair of impostors." She looked behind him, "Where's Alphonse, I don't see him?"

"He's outside, got a bit of a cough you see and his brother got in a fight with an impostor last night," Dillan explained, "so, you think I can have some cough meds and a compress?"

Yasmin smiled, "Sure thing, man, but you look like you could use something else, too."

He blinked, "What?"

"Advice for the girl," Yasmin grinned, smugly, "who's made you feel like an idiot and plush like a school boy."

His face felt hot again, so did his ears, oh shit, oh shit, "What are you talking about, Yasmin?!"

The adult laughed, "It's written all over your face, Dilly-boy, someone's made you feel hot and bothered, but don't worry. It's only natural for a boy your age-"

"Stop, stop, stop, stop Yasmin, please!" He flailed his arms about, "I don't wanna have that conversation with you, please don't start it, please, please, please don't even mention that stuff around me!"

She laughed again, "I'm just teasing you, kiddo. But seriously, tell me about it, I might have some advice for you." Yasmin turned around and began rummaging through the cupboards for the cough meds and compresses.

Dillan sighed, "I was kinda a jerk to her and she picked a fight with me and though I didn't want to, I ended up in a total brawl with her. I'm not exactly gentle when I fight someone, even if it's a girl, as you know."

Yasmin laughed nervously, "Yeah, I don't think we should be bringing such private matters up in public, Dillan. But I'm sure there's more to it than that."

" _Damn it, the distraction technique didn't work._ " He thought, before sighing, "I met her a bit earlier and all I did was flirt and sweet-talk her and she screamed at me to stop it as if I was trying to rape her. She nearly hit me again, she had to have her friend hold her back and all I did was laugh like a winner and walk away; I've really pissed her off I think."

Yasmin made a sound of happy acknowledgement, "Well, you tried flirting and it didn't work, so why not just talk to her? As an equal or just one of your friends?"

Dillan winced, "I met her last night when she and her buddies broke into Mugear's mansion."

She froze, "You have a crush on… your impostor…"

He grumbled, his head in his hands, "Unfortunately."

She sighed heavily, "Oh well, love works in mysterious ways."

"What?" The redhead stared at her, conflicted.

Yasmin chuckled, "She was fairly attractive, I saw her when she came in here a little while ago and she didn't seem like a bad person. Just do yourself a favor and be nice to her, okay? And be careful. Well then," She held up come meds and a compress, "that'll be 1,000cenz, please."

Dillan blinked at her, then smiled and gave her the money, taking the medicine before finally turning around. He had a girl to swoon and since flirting didn't work, he'd need to figure something else out. And fast.

* * *

A little while later, the group were in an disused construction site, sitting on a couple of those long, pole things that are really big and look like tunnels to an animal's perspective. Celina really couldn't care less what they were called, not that she'd know to begin with.

The adorable little blonde, who'd told them his name was Fletcher, gave Alphonse the bag of Elisa's medicine with a simple, "Here."

"Thank you very much." Alphonse took them with slight hesitation.

The two of them turned their bodies away from each other and faced the front; from where they were sitting, Celina could see Mugear's mansion.

"Both of us have it rough when our older brothers and friends lose their tempers, huh?" Alphonse suggested.

"I'm sorry, okay?" Celina huffed, "Geez, it's not my fault I can get absorbed into a fight so easy. Besides," she gestured to Dillan with her thumb, "his face looked way too punch-able for my taste. I couldn't help myself."

Dillan grinned, "Why thank you, Celina, I think I'll take that as a compliment."

Celina also grinned, "Good because it was intended as one, Dillan."

"Aren't you mad at us?" Fletcher questioned, looking entirely sincere in his confusion.

Alphonse turned his body to face the young boy, gentle, "I figure you must have your reasons, right?"

Celina nodded, "Uh-huh, just like Belsio said, 'to each their own'."

"Words to the wise, my friend!" Dillan grinned, raising a fist.

The Chimera also grinned and knocked his fist with one of her own.

Fletcher looked down guiltily, "I'm sorry."

Everyone's full attention was back on the young blonde.

"For us to participate in Mugear's research, we needed some credibility and had to use names such as yours. The only way for me brother to be a teenager and still a State Alchemist, was for us to pretend to be the Elric Brothers and their Wolf." Fletcher explained their reasons.

Alphonse was surprised, "You need the Philosopher's Stone that badly?"

Dillan snorted, "Honestly, no."

"Then why go to all this trouble?" Celina questioned him.

He turned his head away from her, "It's not really my place to say."

"My Dad devoted his whole life to doing research on the Stone." Fletcher spoke up.

Celina shut up when she heard that.

"So, your father was an Alchemist too?" Alphonse questioned, intrigued.

Fletcher nodded, "Then one day, he was suddenly gone." His fists shook in his lap, "So now out of love for my dad, my brother insists on forcing himself to carry on his research." His body shook in unspoken sobs and Celina felt her heart go out to the boy.

"That's the complete opposite of my family." Alphonse stated, surprising the others, as he turned to the sky, "My brother hates our dad, who is also an Alchemist. Our father was completely obsessed with the science, and our mother suffered because of it, especially when he left her. On our journeys, we've also met a bunch of other people who have suffered because of Alchemy."

Celina bowed her head, remembering the delusional man who thought that Alchemy would bring him back a woman he'd claimed to love who'd been at his side for much longer than he'd realized. She remembered the Chimera girls like herself who had been transformed against their will and made to suffer and go through hardships Celina couldn't even begin to imagine. And of course, there was Alphonse and Edward themselves, who'd believed that Alchemy could bring them back their mother's warmth only to have parts of their bodies taken away from them.

Whoever had come up with the idea of the taboo was a jerk.

Above them, the bright blue sky was littered with white puffy clouds, making their way through life as a rusty, old crain tried to reach up and meet them. With her animal-enhanced vision, Celina spotted a ginger-coloured bird sitting on top of the crain.

"Listen," Alphonse spoke, turning his eyes and body back to Fletcher, "if your brother is doing something you know is wrong, please just be brave and stop him. You're the only one who can. It's tough, I know, but you can't make others do it. If you do, I think your brother would be really upset."

Fletcher turned his head away from Alphonse and focused it on his feet instead, looking upset and guilty. Dillan gave a empty and broken smile at the ground, as if he was filled with bitter-feelings at the advice.

It hurt her a lot more then it probably should have to see him looking like that.

Celina gently and slowly placed her fingers between his own and she squeezed a little, trying to give him her sympathy. He didn't look at her, not for a moment, but he did squeeze back. She smiled and looked upwards at the ginger bird once more…

Only to find a silver-ish looking bird and a gold bird also sitting with it. They chatted like old friends, before the silver bird and the gold bird turned around and the ginger bird took off. And when they turned around again, the silver and gold birds also flew off.

* * *

A little while later, they were all stood at an intersection, Fletcher and Dillan about to go one way and Celina and Alphonse the other.

"I've been a little concerned about this," Alphonse spoke up, "but haven't you noticed there are an awful lot of people with bad coughs in this town?"

Fletcher flinched and Dillan nearly did the same; shit, he noticed.

"Uh-sorta." Fletcher stuttered.

"Yeah, I saw a lot of people coughing in the pharmacies that we went to." Celina stated, glaring at nothing, "Even if they kicked us out after only 2 minutes, at most, spent in the place."

Dillan really couldn't bite his tongue, "It was probably because your beauty was so obviously illegal, it made them jealous and they couldn't be seen with you or else they'd look like rocks compared to diamonds."

Celina glared at him, "Did you have to say something so obviously untrue at a time like this? Besides, I'm 11 years old; do you really think that's an appropriate age to be getting hit on?"

"Perhaps in some people's eyes, but you know what they say; that love is blind."

"More like love is stupid. You were a lot nicer to hang out with when you kept your mouth shut."

"I'm a little hurt by that statement, Celina. I've got a great big booboo on my heart now."

"Too bad, because I won't be kissing it better."

"Who said anything about you kissing it? I mean, you can if you want to, but-"

"Shut up and quit running rings around me with words, you asshole!"

"Believe me, Celina my dear, I can think of plenty of other things I'd rather wrap around you besides rings of words."

"Oh my Truth, if you don't shut up right now, I swear I will fucking deck yo-"

"Brother!" Fletcher exclaimed in surprise.

The duo shut up and turned their heads towards the right side of the crossing, seeing the older blonde from before standing at the top of the road, glaring towards them. He turned and started walking away.

Fletcher flinched and started moving, "Sorry, I have to go now."

Dillan sighed, "Yeah same goes for me." and then smiled towards Celina, "See ya 'round, doll face."

While Celina seethed beside him, Alphonse held up one of his gauntlet covered hands, "Wait, what's your brother's name?"

Fletcher stopped and turned around, smiling, "It's Russell. I'm Fletcher and he's Russell."

"And I'm Dillan McNeil." He added, giving Celina a little wink, "See ya, Celly."

Her face turned a gorgeous shade of crimson that made Dillan's heart beat a little bit faster as he watched her turn around and scoff, pony-tails whipping, "Just get out of here before you make me puke, lover-boy."

Dillan smiled one more time, before turning tail and running, grabbing Fletcher's hand in the process.

"Hey, Dillan?" Fletcher called as they ran up the street.

"Yeah?" Dillan answered.

"Do you like Celina, as in, like-like her?"

"Maybe. I don't know yet."

"Well, whenever you decide to gather up the courage, I think you should ask her out on a date or something."

"Really? What if she stomps on my balls or something though?!"

"Don't worry, I'll make sure to get you to a hospital if that happens."

"Thanks, Fletcher. That makes me feel so much braver."

He heard the boy laugh and wriggle out of his hold, only to run faster, towards his older brother who was waiting for them. Dillan sighed and shook his head. It was the end of the world if Fletcher was telling him to ask someone out so soon after that incident. That or he really wanted him to get kicked in the balls.

He had such great friends, no?

* * *

Celina sighed; her face felt really hot and her brain had gone to mush. All because stupid, fucking, dumb-ass, flirty, handsome, Dillan freaking McNeil had called her by her nick-name.

As soon as she was out of Xenotime, she was going to see a doctor. And a therapist. And a psychiatrist. Perhaps a mental health institution while she was at it.

As Alphonse and Celina turned around, they saw Edward running right in front of them, causing the boy to call out, "Brother?!"

Edward halted in her run, turning around towards the duo, her face still swelled up.

"What's the matter, Ed? Why are you running?" Celina asked because Edward didn't run around looking pissed off for nothing, screw what Mustang thought of the 'boy'.

Edward turned and snarled at the direction she'd been running in, "That impostor is here! The older one!" The golden girl turned her eyes to them, "Have you seen him?"

Alphonse flinched, but Celina shook her head, "Not a trace."

"That unethical bastard!" Edward hissed, stalking over to the duo, "Did you know he's been fixing the townspeople's house tools and transmuting wheels for them all over town?"

"Isn't that better than him doing bad stuff?" Alphonse questioned.

Celina nodded her head, "Remember, everything he does could end up affecting your reputation."

"That's not the point, it's the way he works! I don't like the way he operates." Edward insisted, scowling, "He's ignoring the Law of Equivalent Exchange."

The duo gasped.

"Al, Cel, we're going to sneak in there again tonight!" Edward declared.

Alphonse recoiled, "What?! Even though it's the very next day?!"

Celina blinked then smirked, "We're trying again because it's the very next day, aren't we, Edward?"

Edward smirked, the evil look ruined by her swelling cheek, "Exactly, they won't be expecting us."

Between Celina and Edward, Alphonse found himself sighing. Here they go again.


	13. The Red Water

_Justice. The act of bringing about "fair" treatment on an "evil" person who has "violated" the land's laws and threatened people's lives. This is what most people think of as Justice. Others think Justice is to do with "Right/Wrong". I guess that in the end though, it all depends on your perspective._

 _My perspective is Justice is the law being acted out; with or without the entire country's approval. Most people would think that Justice is a good thing; something to keep everyone in order and protect them from the enemies within society._

 _But I think Justice is just a lie._

 _People say, Justice is the same as Revenge and I think they're right. All it is, is us making other people swallow the bag of nails they gave us in the first place and laughing upon the mess they made when they died or threw up. Justice is not "Right/Wrong" because everyone has a different perspective of it and mine tends to different from the government's. Just like my perspective on a lot of things are. For example:_

 _Personally, I'd love it if we weren't so over-kill when it came to fighting our enemies; the ones within and the ones without. I wish this damned militaristic state wasn't a militaristic state and that we could just be good to our fellow countries instead of giving both soldiers and civilians nightmares of unnecessary wars. I wish we could be friends with Aurago, Drachma, Creta and Ishval. I wish we could dethrone the Fuhrer, fix his mistakes and just make everything in the world right again._

 _But how can we even do the first one without getting everyone killed? The Fuhrer would sooner assassinate his entire country then let himself get killed. He just that much of a bastard. And everyone knows this; so why do I keep saying "we" when really there's only "me" in this idea?_

 _I think I may be sick. But I don't care. I hate Justice. I hate how over-kill everyone always is. I hate my country's army. I hate the higher up bastards. But I could never hate the people in my country's army for they are my family and you know what?_

 _I couldn't have ever gotten a better one if I searched for 1000 years._

* * *

Once the trio got back to the lab, Fletcher tried to find the courage to speak to Russell his true feelings.

"Brother…" The blonde child said, mouth masked, "There's something I need to talk to you about."

Russell, ignorant as ever, kept his eyes glued to the microscope, ignoring Fletcher as he always did while Dillan stood resting his foot against the wall with his arms folded, asking as if he was thinking about something intensely rather than watching the scenario roll out in front of him. This was a brother problem, not a brother and friend problem, so he had to stay out of it…

As much as he wanted to sock his best friend in the face.

Russell completely ignored Fletcher, which lead to the youngest Tringham brother getting teary-eyed. Dillan tapped his heel against the back of the wall, gaining his attention.

Dillan offered his little buddy a eye-full smile since he was also wearing one of those God-awful masks and Fletcher wouldn't see his lips. He seemed to get the message none the less; he gave an eye-smile in return and then turned to another table where he could do some more research on their little project.

And Dillan went back to leaning against the wall and looking like a jock because he was good at that.

* * *

That night, Edward, Celina and Alphonse snuck into the mansion grounds again, exactly the same way they had before. This time, though, their heads were a lot cooler and they were a lot better prepared to fight the new evils. Celina had updated Edward on their new information about the trio of impostors while they were dropping off Elica's meds.

And now they were ready for action.

Edward checked to see if they'd been spotted before turning around to face Alphonse and Celina, "Today, we're going in with operation mole-man."

"Mole-man?" Alphonse and Celina questioned, wondering what the blonde had up her sleeve.

One clap of Alchemy later, there was a hole in the ground and Edward was leading the way down and into what would likely be a annoyingly twisty and cramped tunnel. Celina hated most cramped spaces, but what was the point in complaining?

"Celina?" Alphonse called, taking his helmet off in offering.

Celina smiled, "Al, you sure?"

"Of course." He stated.

"Alphonse, you are a saint and a blessing to this evil world, thank you." She stated.

With that, the girl climbed into the one tight space where she didn't get scared and Alphonse put his helmet back on to climb into the tunnel. Celina breathed a sigh of relief from her place inside Alphonse's armour; he knew she was claustrophobic, unless she was inside his armour, but she didn't dare go in there usually. She knew he found it a little bit creepy, but Alphonse was always willing to put up with it for her.

As she'd said, he was a saint and a blessing to this evil world.

"By my calculation, we should just about be under the center of the building now." Edward stated after a while of silence.

Alphonse tried to look at his sister's face, "Are you sure?"

Edward sat back and clapped her hands, "No, we're going to come out somewhere."

She placed her hands to the wall and opened up another tunnel, this one going upwards with a ladder attached to the wall.

"We're in!" The blonde's voice called out and Celina could hear the smile in her tone.

* * *

When they finally got out of the tunnel, Edward found herself, Celina and Alphonse standing by a underground, unnatural river of red-liquid, purple mist intoxicating and covering the ground up to her brother's knees.

"What is this?" Alphonse asked, his voice a gasp of shock.

Celina coughed hard into her hand and started trying to climb onto Alphonse's shoulders, "I can hardly breath down there!"

Her saint of a brother picked Celina up, which allowed her to wrap her arms around his neck to keep her in place, as far above the liquid as possible. Good; with her acute animals senses, fuck knows what would happen to her.

"No that's their plan…" Edward spoke up, finally realizing what was happening down here, "I think this might be the water that forms the base of the Red Stone."

"The Red Stone?" Alphonse asked.

"Like the one Cornello was using in Liore?" Celina questioned, coughing a little more, "The fake Philosopher's Stone?"

"Kinda. I remember reading some documents about it at Central Library." The blonde explained to her friend and brother, "It's a theoretical solid, pumped full of Alchemical Amplifiers, which you get by placing refined Red Water under a few megatons of pressure. Then it turns to stone."

"Then, you can make a Philosopher's Stone with this stuff?" The boy asked, curiously.

"No, more like a cheap imitation." Edward stated, before turning her head to the two, "I think it was an Alchemist named Nash-something-or-other was the one researching it. But in the end, it didn't work ou-"

FLOP!

"CELINA!" Alphonse and Edward cried out, looking at their friend.

The girl had suddenly lost all strength, coughing and wheezing as if she was having an asthma attack.

"I, I can't," She panted hard and fast, it was horrible to see the usually life-full girl like this, "I can't breath!"

"Celina!" Alphonse called, picking her up and getting her above the mist, "CELINA WAKE UP!"

"Over here!"

"Quickly!"

"Who's there?!" Edward and Alphonse yelled, snapping towards the source of light and sound.

Standing in the doorway, with masks on their mouths, were the red-head and the short blonde boy.

"It's me!" The shorty called.

The redhead looked horror struck, "Hurry before all three of you pass out!"

"Fletcher… Dillan." Alphonse panted in amazement.

* * *

As soon as she was out of the tunnel, Dillan took Celina into his arms and raced her to one of their labs, as far away from the underground water-ways as possible; damn it, why'd she have to be so stupid?!

"Hey, Fletcher," Alphonse called as they ran after Dillan, "how'd you two know we were here?"

"We saw the flash of Alchemy," Fletcher panted as they ran, "and started searching the ground flour. But when we didn't find you, we were afraid you'd wound up by the Red Water and ran there next. We're lucky we found you when we did!"

"Yeah," Edward panted, "But don't expect any thanks from me until I know Celina's okay, got it?!"

" _Even if you gave them, we wouldn't deserve them._ " Dillan thought, " _Not after turning her into this._ "

He glanced down worriedly at the Chimera-Human in his arms; he didn't know much about Alchemy, but he could recognize a Chimera when he saw one, even if they looked just about fully human. She looked so pale, even her bright orange hair had turned more into a pinkish shade and her black-as-night stripes were a little grayer. Her ears were pressed down, her tail was limp by her legs, her breathing was coming in ragged pants.

She looked one second away from becoming a corpse and Dillan felt like it was all his fault.

When they got into the lab, Dillan gave Celina to Edward for a moment, took off his white jacket and laid it on the flour, then placing Celina onto it.

"What good will that do?!" Edward snapped, clearly annoyed.

Dillan didn't give the boy any attention, he focused it solely on the only girl in the room, "It'll keep her body temperature stable; Red Water does stuff to the immune system if inhaled. The consequences aren't normally life threatening, but they'll give anyone a really bad day. She's likely to throw up at some point within the next three days; that'll be normal though, so don't worry too much when it happens."

"She'll," Alphonse stuttered, "she'll throw up?"

Dillan pinched the girl's nose and checked her throat; nothing choking her, "Only to get the Red Water out of her system. It'll settle in her stomach at some point and then start giving her hell; she won't be able to eat or shit properly until she throws up the Red Water. If she doesn't throw up after three days, though, then that means something's wrong."

The redhead snapped his fingers, "Alphonse, Fletcher, I need a cloth to keep her forehead okay and some water; half for drinking, half for the cloth. Can you guys handle that?"

He heard some sounds of confirmation before the two young boys scampered off.

"Edward, give me your jackets!" He snapped his fingers again, "We need to support her head a little more."

"Gotcha." Edward registered, taking off his red and black coat, leaving him in just the black shirt and the Automail being shown off.

After they were folded, Dillan lifted Celina's head, gently and let Edward place the make-shift pillow under her.

"We've got the water and cloth!" Fletcher called, Alphonse clanking after him.

Dillan turned to them for a split second and gave them a nod, "Pass me the cloth and then someone get a bucket, just encase she throws up." He turned back to the Chimera, noticing the slightest bit of color getting back in her face and hair as he placed the slightly damp cloth on her forehead, "I don't know much about Chimera anatomy, but I've got a sneaky suspicion that Red Water'll get out of her system faster than it would a normal human."

"Here's a bucket!" Alphonse called, the sound of the the two different metal entities clanking together being proof of this fact.

Dillan moved back from Celina's face once more and lifted her legs into his lap, "Now, we just have to get the blood flowing towards her brain and she should be fine."

"What do we do, now?" Edward asked, a determined but worried look on his face.

"We wait." Dillan stated, turning from Celina to face the blonde, "She'll wake up soon, I think, but we need to make sure it's on her own terms."

"You think?" He snarled, clearly trying to cover up worry and fear with anger; Dillan had seen Russell do it all the time, so he knew what the oh so mighty Fullmetal Alchemist really felt.

The redhead gave the blonde a bitter smile, "You guys know her better than I do; so you're more likely to know just how tough she is."

With that, everyone was silent for a moment, just listening to Celina's breathing, that was slowly returning to normal. Out of the corner of his eye, Dillan saw Fletcher fidgeting and tears gathering in his eyes; poor kid probably felt guiltier than Dillan did. Alphonse and Edward's demeanors just kept getting tenser and tenser, the concern in their eyes shining bright.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Celina groaned a little and started opening her eyes.

"Celina, are you alright?" Alphonse asked softly, leaning over her.

"Talk to us!" Edward called, clearly frightened.

For a moment, Celina remained groggy and dazed, but then her face consorted into disgusted and Dillan abandoned her legs in favor of turning her on her side and placing the bucket by her mouth just in time. She started retching into it immediately.

"Well, looks like you guys won't have to worry about her anymore, now that it's out of her system." The redhead smiled, sheepishly.

Edward ignored him in favor of holding Celina's hair back while Alphonse rubbed her back and held the bucket close to her mouth to ensure there wasn't a mess on the flour. Dillan kept up his sheepish smile, not at all bothered by the fact he was being ignored; gave him the perfect about of time to admire how cute Celina's ears were. He would have done that sooner, actually, but not while her health was in danger.

After she was done throwing up, Fletcher offered her the glass of water. Celina took it in both hands, took a sip, swilled it around her mouth and then spat it into the bucket. She did this two times more and then drank what was left of the water.

"Okay, now that that's done." She panted for a moment and then turned away from the bucket, looking in his direction, "Dillan, would you please tell me where are we? And what the Hell you and Fletcher are doing here?"

Dillan gave her a smile, hoping it was as sexy as he'd intended it to be, "Well, you see beautiful-"

"I-I'm sorry." Fletcher flinched, tears appearing in the corner of his eyes.

Celina gave them a confused look, "What? What are you crying over, kid? What did you do?"

"Fletcher, it's what you didn't do, isn't it?" Alphonse called in his gentle voice, causing Edward and Celina to direct their attention towards him, "If you know something, tell us. You really don't like what's going on here, do you?" Alphonse turned his eyes towards Dillan and he felt the look shake him to his soul, "I get the feeling you don't like it either; do you Dillan?"

Fletcher placed his shaky fists on his folded knees once more and Dillan a hand on his friend's shoulder, "The Red Water… is very dangerous to humans; it's toxic and has been polluting the whole town. But it's the vital ingredient for creating a Red Stone."

"You mean, the people of Xenotime have been coughing so badly because of it? And maybe going through what Celina just did?" Alphonse inquired, gentle curiosity shining through.

Fletcher was shaking in his sobs and cries, "I'm sorry." He covered his face in shame and Dillan turned that hand into an arm, "I'm sorry."

Celina gave them a sympathetic look as if she wanted to give both of them a hug, but was holding back for some reason.

Edward scoffed and stood up, "Okay, this is ridiculous." He hissed at the experiments all around, "First thing's first, I'm gonna smash all of this crap up."

"I can't let you do that."

Everyone turned their heads towards a volt, where Russell was standing there, a Red Stone in his hand.

"After all the work we put into it, we've finally created a Red Stone. My dad gave everything he had in pursuit of this, Mr Elric." His face split into a wide grin of twisted satisfaction, "If his experiments go unfulfilled, he'll never be redeemed, right? So if you think I'm giving up now, you're quite mistaken."

Edward scoffed and grinned challengingly towards Russell, "So you care that much about some half-baked rock?"

Russell snarled, grabbed the lamp next to him and turning it into a sword.

The boy in Automail smirked, "Haha, there's one I haven't seen; a fake sword from a fake stone." He clapped and placed his left hand over his right, "I think I can top that. Then I'm going to smash you up, together with your stupid, little, science-fair rock!"

He turned his Automail arm into a sword, the gloves disappearing as he charged into battle with Russell, looking slightly less dramatic without the red coat, but dangerous all the same. Edward went for a thrust downwards but Russell got his sword underneath the swing, stopping it from touching him. But he looked to be struggling now that the Fullmetal Alchemist's sword was picked against his own.

CRACK!

A chip appeared where the blades met and some of it broke off, causing Russell to flinch while Edward's grin only widened, "Mine is the genuine article."

Russell kneed Edward in the chest, forcing him to back-flip away from the blue-eyed boy. Russell placed his hand against the wall and suddenly a valve appeared out of the iron door behind him.

"What the?!" Edward exclaimed.

Russell smirked, leveling the valve at them, "It's Red Water straight from the tap. If you're showered with it, you're a goner. You won't just lose consciousness, either!"

Celina gasped, "What the Hell are you thinking, bastard?! That's going too far!"

"Celina, back!" Edward snapped as if she was an attack dog; then he smirked and turned his sword into an umbrella, "Fine! Let it rain, I say!"

Russell turned on the Red Water and when it hit the umbrella it went everywhere; if this kept up, the entire lab would be drowned in it.

"Brother, this is crazy!" Alphonse cried.

"You're brother's right!" Russell yelled over the sound of rushing water, "Just get out of here and you can live!"

"Edward, you fucking idiot, move now!" Celina screamed, about to go rush out but Dillan grabbed her around the waist; instantly she was kicking and screaming, "Let me go, Dillan, I have to help him!"

"And get yourself killed in the process?!" Dillan hissed at the annoying and gorgeous girl in his arms, "I don't fucking think so! Surely, Edward's got enough sense to move!"

"Doesn't matter if he has enough sense or not!" She growled lowly.

For a moment, Dillan was confused, but then he had it all cleared up for him.

"Never!" Edward screamed; then he smirked, "I'm not going to lose to some naive kid who's desperate to be… just like daddy!"

Russell grit his teeth and turned up the pressure on Edward.

"Russell, stop it!" Dillan yelled, "This is madness!"

The added pressure forced the eldest Elric to slide backwards across the floor slightly, the Red Water gathering there.

"EDWARD!" Celina screamed in fear, "RUN ALREADY, PLEASE!"

Then the worst thing possible happened.

Edward slipped.

For a moment, it felt like time had completely stopped and all he could hear was Celina's desperate cry of the boy's name.

Then it went all too fast and suddenly-

The Red Water stopped flowing.

Edward was sitting on his butt and hands, completely unharmed.

And Fletcher was lying in his place, in a puddle of Red Water.

Dillan didn't even register the scream that tore out of his throat as he ran over to the boy, nor did he focus on the sound of clanking metal following him over along with the soft sound of a predator's footsteps. Nor did he register Russell's horrified expression.

Not until Fletcher had been taken out of the puddle by Alphonse and Celina had ripped off a long strip of her shirt and was trying to get the Red Water off his skin immediately. That was good.

"Fletcher, hang in there." Alphonse whimpered.

Celina's voice shook slightly, "You're going to be okay, kid."

Fletcher ignored the both of them and instead sent his gaze towards his older and only brother, "Brother, Dad was researching the Red Water to bring happiness to people and make their lives better, right?! But all we're doing is making the town's people suffer, hasn't it?! Brother, don't you see the cost of forging that stone? It doesn't matter who gets the credit anymore, does it? Because Dad would..." Fletcher's tears were slipping once again and it broke Dillan's heart to see them again, "Dad would be ashamed of us if he saw what we've done!"

For fucking once Russell had nothing to say; he tried to talk, but he truly did have nothing to say.

WHISTLE!

The Elric and Tringham trios heads turned towards the sound, all of them showing horror in their facial expressions.

* * *

 **TO BE CONTINUED!**


	14. History Lesson

_Epidemic. The slow spread of an infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, usually two weeks or less. Throughout recorded history, epidemics have been some of the main factors in the deaths of countless people and some would dare to say epidemics are even more devastating than wars._

 _Take Smallpox for example; it's a serious, contagious, and sometimes fatal infectious disease. Patients with ordinary-type smallpox usually had bumps filled with a thick and opaque fluid, often with a depression or dimple in the center. This is a major distinguishing characteristic of the disease and it is not pretty in the slightest. Smallpox is caused by infection with the variola virus, which will do nasty things to your mouth and throat if it gets there._

 _Luckily though a number of countries in the northern part of the continent had eliminated smallpox by 1900, and by 1913, Amestris had decreased the disease to comparatively low levels. So that's not so popular these days. Still, in the last century, it is said that worldwide, 400,000 people died from Smallpox, so I'm glad the vaccinations have finally come about._

 _Fun fact: A man named Edward Jenner demonstrated the effectiveness of cowpox to protect humans from smallpox in 1796, after which various attempts were made to eliminate smallpox on a regional scale. Cool, huh?_

 _But anyway, yeah. Epidemics are not fun for anyone, but luckily Alchemists and other scientists have been making more discoveries on how to stop infectious diseases lately. We've learned a lot more about our own biology and how diseases work. Doctors are being able to actually get qualifications so no more (or rather less) quacks. A lot of people believe we're pretty close to eradicating stuff like Smallpox for good._

 _I do hope they're right._

* * *

Fists pounded on the door once more, a voice calling, "Edward-sama, is everything alright in there?! Is something the matter?!"

Russell, sweat on his forehead, turned towards the door, "Yeah, I'm fine, it's nothing!" Then muttering, "I told them not to bother us in here..."

Edward huffed, smirking as if nothing had just happened to the group, "Maybe they don't trust you." She pointed at the blue-eyed teen, "Though I can't see why, at least until after revealing who you really are to them."

Russell growled, but didn't say anything.

Meanwhile, Fletcher had crawled out of Alphonse's arms and was by the door, drawing a transmutation circle in chalk.

Russell gasped, turning his head, "Fletcher!"

"What are you doing, kid?" Celina asked, getting up and turning her head towards Dillan, "Wait, should he even be moving?"

Dillan smiled a really, really cute that looked kinda impish and kinda hot, "Fletcher maybe a kid, but he's a lot tougher than he looks. He's fine."

Celina nodded and swallowed, feeling her cheeks heat up a bit since she could practically feel the awkward silence that was now on breathing down the back of her neck. Luckily, it didn't last long, since Fletcher had activated the transmutation circle, causing massive and strong-looking tree-roots to pop out of no-where, barricading everyone inside the lab.

He snapped his head back to the Elrics, "Run for it! Hurry!"

Everyone's eyes widened a little.

"Brother." Alphonse called, urgently, "Celly."

Edward nodded, a serious look in her bright golden eyes.

Fletcher waved his arms a little, something he hadn't done until then, "If they catch you, we'll all be in trouble! In time, I'll explain everything, I promise! So leave, quickly!"

The banging on the door started up again.

The Fullmetal Alchemist grit her teeth for a while, then turned back to the window, "Alright. Al, Cel, let's go!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Celina declared, bolting for the nearest window.

With her running start, the Chimera launched herself into the air, tucked into a ball and used her own body to smash the window to pieces, untucking and rolling once she hit the ground. Edward and Alphonse were out right after her, all of them bolting for the walls.

Glancing over her shoulder a final time, Celina smiled slightly when she spotted stupid Dillan waving her off, calling, "Goodnight, my looooooooove!"

Celina laughed, feeling a blush travel all over her face and right down her neck, calling over her shoulder, "Later, loser!"

With that, she and the siblings were over the fence and heading back for Belsio's place, her heart a little lighter thanks to that joke of a farewell.

Stupid, funny, stupid, handsome, annoying (and did she mention stupid?) Dillan.

It was wonderful. **He** was wonderful.

Fuck, she sounded like a sap.

Who cares?

* * *

Russell held Fletcher's wrist in a guilty and betrayed grip, cleaning and healing the damage the Red Water had inflicted on his brother's skin. What had he done?

Meanwhile Dillan was still at the window, staring out it with his head in his hands and occasionally sighing something along the lines of "she gave me a nickname", "she called me loser" or even "I think I'm sunk; it's great". It would've had Russell sweat dropping if they hadn't been in such a serious situation just a moment ago. What was the matter with him? He'd never seen the boy act this love-struck around any of his crushes or flings.

As soon as they got home, he was totally taking him to a doctor.

"You promised you'd never use Alchemy, Fletcher." Russell scolded once he was finished with his brother's hand, "Dad didn't like you doing it, you know."

Suddenly, armed men came running into the lab. Dillan had changed out the love-struck demeanor for one of rage and hatred as he began spouting about the horrid little monsters who had wrecked his Godly best friends' work.

Finally, Mugear appeared at the door, in all his grey-haired, pale skinned, greedy/beady brown eyed wonderfulness. And of course he was wearing that tacky and improper too-pale-blue jacket, dark grey trousers and white shoes, too.

"My lab! What have they done to my lab?! This is terrible!" He stated looking around the room.

As much as Russell didn't want to see him, he should at least ask why he was here in the first place, "Mugear-sama."

Mugear turned towards them as Dillan finally stopped with his fake-angry display, walking over to complete the three, "Oh. I'm glad to see you're alright."

"Oh yeah, they're totally fine. I am as well, thank you!" Dillan spat; he and Mugear hasn't even been able to be civil with one another from the start no matter what.

"The stone?" Mugear questioned, ignoring Dillan's outburst, "Is the stone alright? Has it been damaged?"

Russell stood up now that Fletcher had been healed, presenting the Red Stone that had been useless against Edward, "Not to worry, it's right here and it's in tack."

Mugear finally smiled and took it from his hands, examining it up close, "I commend you for making it so large." He took it away from his ugly face, "However, we don't have anymore time on the table. I need you to start putting our contingency method into practice."

What? No, they could never do that! It's madness! Russell couldn't let them, "But sir, we've made real progress. We don't need to use that method for the Stone to-"

Mugear hummed and blinked at him, still sweating like the pig that he was, then raised an eyebrow, "Are you saying you can't follow the orders of the one person who's giving you a chance?"

Damnit, they… they couldn't. Russell turned his head away, "N-no…"

"There was once another Alchemist who told me the same thing." Mugear stated, moving to place the Red Stone in some kind of contraption, "In the end, he ran away, like a beaten dog and he was never heard from again."

The Red Stone was dropped into the contraption and-was that Red Water?- therefore the liquid inside of it. It glowed bright red, like an Alchemical reaction.

"What's that?!" Russell demanded.

Dillan snorted, "Nothing good, I bet."

Mugear grinned smugly, raising the contraption that was still glowing, up to his eye-level, "With this machine, even a person without the ability to perform Alchemy such as myself, can do this!"

He lowered the contraption and pointed it at the ground; suddenly, red lighting snapped out of the machine, turned the wood of the flour stretchy and the trio found themselves entangled in them.

What the?! "Mugear-sama! Why are you doing this?!"

"Fucking knew it!" Dillan snarled, struggling for all he was worth, "Fucking knew this was bad! Aww, damn it! I can't get out!"

This is bad, this is really bad.

"Magnificent." Mugear stopped using the contraption-Russell was going to call it the R.W.G: Red Water Gun-and smeared, "Because I can." Then his sneer turned into a greedy smile, "You honestly think I'm a fool, don't you? Everyone knows that the real Edward Elric has an Automail arm, as well as golden hair and eyes and that his little brother wears a suit of armour, sons of Nash Tringham!" Fletcher gasped and Dillan sweated as Mugear turned his eyes on him, "and the Wolf of Elric is a full fledged girl, son of Chris McNeil, that damn she-male!"

Dillan's eyes widened in horror, before narrowing in anger, "You bastard, my Mom's name is Christy, damnit! DON'T YOU DARE CALL HER ANYTHING BUT CHRISTY, YOU GOT IT, FUCK FACE! HER NAME IS CHRISTY!"

Fletcher's eyes filled with tears as they remembered the stories their Aunt used to tell them of how much she was bullied by that old name and being called a 'she-male'. Russell meanwhile growled in anger, those memories also coming to light behind his eyes.

Why does their Aunt still have to suffer this treatment? She's a good person, damnit!

* * *

Belsio didn't really know why he bothered staying up late waiting for those three to come back. Maybe he felt like he needed to look out for them, they were just kids after all. Maybe he was tired of their crap and wanted to give them a talking to. Who knows, who cares.

The first confirmation he got of their return was the door creaking open.

The second was the sound of three different people breathing as they looked around.

The third was the surprisingly-subtle-clanking of armour, miss-matched footsteps and too-light/near-prowling footsteps.

"Things sure have been exciting over at the mansion, huh kids?" Belsio questioned, not sitting up from his arm-chair to see them.

All he got was the boy's, Edward's, sheepish laughter, "Oh, you don't say?"

"We had no idea." The girl, Celina, added, also laughing sheepishly, "Too busy training, right, Al?"

"Right!" Alphonse, Armour Boy, chirped right along, clearly a rubbish liar.

Belsio was not going to play this game with these kids, "You went there again, huh? Second night in a row? There's no helping you."

Before anything else could be said, quite coughing filled the air and he could imagine Celina's face twisting in fear and panic.

"Huh? Is Elisa still here?" Alphonse asked.

Belsio imagined him, Edward and Celina turning their heads towards her bedroom door where the sounds were coming from.

"Her father's gonna be furious but, the grapevines were withering a little and she wanted to stay here. Just like you three, she wouldn't listen to me or reason." Belsio turned his head a little, just enough so he could see the kids; just as he'd expected, Celina's entire posture radiated tension, "But I had no choice with her coughing so terribly. I just put her down to bed."

"Why is she coughing like that?" Celina's voice sounded scared-scared out of her mind, nearly, "She took the medicine, right? I know I saw her take it before we snuck out."

Belsio sighed; he'd been wondering the same thing as he stared into the fire, waiting for these three to come back. It wasn't a nice pass time, "I don't know."

"Can I… Can I just go in and check on her?" The girl turned to face him, looking shaken, "Please, just let me wake her up and give her some water, please. I…" She looked down, hands at her sides in fists, shaking as if trying not to do something, "I'm really scared for her."

Well, it wasn't like Elicia was sleeping well anyway, "Go right ahead."

He saw her nod and then practically bolted for the door. Poor girl; she looked like she was two seconds away from going crazy with worry. She sure cares about kids though.

Wonder why...

* * *

Belsio actually seemed more shocked then anything when he heard the end of their tale, as if he'd heard of it before, "Huh? Red Water?"

With a mug of hot coco in all of their hands, Celina looking as if she was fighting a fidget/twitch but not as badly as before now that she'd given Elisa some water, a bedtime story and a lullaby to boot (God, the girl worried about kids more then she worried about Ed and Al-and that was saying something), but she still didn't look like she wanted to talk. Edward didn't blame her; it isn't nice seeing a kid sick. She still remembers how that felt whenever Alphonse got sick when they were kids.

Nevertheless, Edward still needed to explain about the Red Water to Belsio, "They're crystallizing it, trying to turn it into a Red Stone, an alchemical amplifier. Stupid. But compared to the Philosopher's Stone, the Red Water is just a pale imitation. They're wasting their time."

"Why do you think they're going nuts over it if compared to the real Stone, it's pathetic? Plus, it's hurting a lot of people in the town and they really don't come across to me as the type to do that on purpose." Celina added, taking a sip of her coco, "It just doesn't make sense to me."

Alphonse turned his head slightly, "What do you suppose he meant by his father putting his whole life into that dream?"

Edward took her coco from her lips, hissing, "Yeah, yeah, probably just some lousy excuse, is all!"

Celina looked at the two of them as if they were mad, "Alphonse, don't you remember what Fletcher told us? About their Dad's devotion to the Red Stone and Russell's desire to follow in his footsteps? I mean, yeah, in my head it's a shit excuse, too, but I don't think it's an excuse to them." But then she put her coco down and interlocked her hands, "That still doesn't explain why Dillan is messed up with them. He's definitely no Alchemist and it's clear he doesn't approve of use of the Red Water, so what's he doing with them?"

"Unless those three…" Heads turned towards Belsio, "are Nash Tringham's and Christy McNeil's sons?"

"Nash? You mean Nash Tringham, the one who came up with the idea of Red Water?" Edward asked, surprised; she hadn't expected the old man to know of any Alchemists.

Belsio lifted his head and began explaining, "He grew up in Xenotime, just like me and Christy was his half brother, until she told us she had no desire to be recognized as a male anymore. He only went to Central to put together his research on the Red Water and of course, Christy went with him. They were gone for years. But then one day, he came back to this town, without Christy; it was raining that day. I talked to him about a couple of things, like how the gold was declining, asking about the Red Water, the family he had in Central and about Christy. All he told me was he gave up on the Red Water and was never going back to Central, saying he was a failure as a husband, brother and father. He'd left behind everything he had. But he wouldn't tell me anything about what happened, though I'm guessing it had something to do with Christy; he'd always feel responsible whenever something bad happened to her. He was a wet, wounded animal, ready to be pounced on. And the biggest landowner in this town, Mugear, made his fortune spilling blood."

"Let me guess," Celina cut in, "that's when the trouble started?"

He nodded, "He approached Nash about his research on the Red Water again and again, but still Nash refused. But as stubborn of an old dog he was, ultimately he gave in, secluding himself in Mugear's mine to resume research. And as the landowner promised, the town once again flourished because of the gold. The furnaces were aflame, vendors filled the streets with their wears, and life returned to the people. However, a mysterious plague of unknown origin began to spread. We had all the money we needed, but we couldn't buy a cure or treatment. Many… many babies died soon after birth."

Making the connections in her mind, Edward came to a quick conclusion, "And Elisa was born during that time?"

Celina gave a horror filled gasp as she turned her head towards the door where the child was sleeping, coughing in her sleep once again. The Chimera looked like she didn't know if she should bolt or stay and listen to the story. Either way, she was pretty upset. Edward really couldn't blame her.

Belsio nodded, "An Alchemic doctor called Marcoh passed through the town and took a look at her. He mumbled something about the Red Water, then pulled some kind of treatment out of his bag. He fiddled with it, causing it to glow and then Elisa was saved."

"It glowed?!" Edward exclaimed; could that doctor have had the real thing?!

"Yes." Belsio stated.

"That light," Alphonse realized slowly, turning his head, "could it have been the real thing...?"

The blonde sat back as Celina picked up her coco again, seeing the ginger/black haired girl muttering, "Holy shit, gotta remember that name and ask Cromwell about him. Remember it, girl; Marcoh, Marcoh, Marcoh, Marcoh..." And on she went.

"Whatever it was," Belsio sat back in his chair, "we have that treatment to thank since it allowed Elisa to survive. I hounded Nash all about the Red Water. All he said was 'I'm going to stop it all' and after that, no one ever saw him again. Gradually, the kids got better while the gold dried up, and the town was once again in the decline."

Everyone took a moment to take in that information, then Belsio added one last thing:

"If those three really are Christy's and Nash's kids, they must have come after their father/uncle. Or his work."


	15. Operation: Copy Cat Rescue

_Photosynthesis. The process by which plants, some bacteria and some protistans use the energy from sunlight to produce glucose from carbon dioxide and water. This glucose can be converted into pyruvate which releases adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by cellular respiration. Oxygen is also formed._

 _In short: Photosynthesis is how plants make food using sunshine, bad gasses and water; they then use their adenosine triphosphate, which is "Life Energy", to grow. And burp out Oxygen at the end._

 _Personally, I've never had much of an interest in plants; as necessary, gorgeous and sometimes dangerous they are, I had other things on my mind when I was growing up in the Tucker Mansion, learning about all this stuff from random books in random rooms. So I don't really know all that much about plants, just the odd fact or two, but I do know how much they mean to Dillan and the Tringhams._

 _Even without Alchemy, Dillan, Russell and Fletcher really bond over plants. Weather it's growing them, talking about them or theorizing, someone so much as mentions a flower name or plant type around them and they will burst into action, declaring and arguing over whatever was called on. Dillan tried to get me into it when the fighting was finally over and done with, but didn't really work out, as you can probably tell._

 _But they're not the only ones I've seen brought together over plants. Gracia, Elysia and Nina got a little window-sill garden at the Hughes' place and they're always working on it and chatting about it._

 _Once Ed, Al and I visited a town after a storm and agreed to help them out. And I could practically feel all the positive energy in the air from the planting, to the handing out of food. It felt like everyone was together in this and it was a really, really, awesome feeling._

 _In short: Plants are awesome. They really, really are._

* * *

That night in Belsio's orange farm, the trio of travelers sat in the moonlight, with the sound of the crickets as background music to their heavy thoughts. Celina sat in a tree, arms and legs under her, head in her hands, tail hanging loosely. Edward was also in a tree, one hand behind her, one knee up and resting her other arm on it. Alphonse stood near them, knowing if he got in the tree, he could end up breaking it.

"Sister…" Alphonse called, something that had become so rare nowadays.

"What?" Edward asked, still sitting in her tree, staring up at the moon.

"Is it wrong? The only thing those two have is their father and Dillan probably really cares about his cousins." The boy lowered his head.

"Oh please Al, they're just using their Pops as justification for what they're doing so it doesn't seem to selfish." The blonde stated, still not turning.

"Maybe," The suit of armour reasoned, "but aren't we doing something similar?"

The girl huffed and lowered her head, a scowl on her face.

"All I'm saying is," The boy lifted his head, "I know how those three feel."

Edward opened her eyes and determinedly stared into the night. The siblings glanced over to Celina, wondering why she hadn't said anything, only to find her snoring softly, head turned towards the moon, one leg and tail hanging and swinging loosely in the breeze. They chuckled.

"I don't care if she's a marsupial." Edward stated, grinning, "She acts like a fucking cat all the time."

"Agreed." Alphonse chuckled. "Don't let her hear you though, or she'll skin you alive."

"I'll get to it in a minute, if you keep it up, boys." Celina murmured, only half asleep as she yawned, "I'll cut off your hair, peal away your skin and carve my name into your corpses if you keep up with the says of how much of a fucking cat I am."

The chimera then went back to sleep, leaving the siblings laughing softly.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a not so far away mansion, or rather, under a not so far away mansion…

"For the love of- You're useless!" Mugear cursed, standing in a dimly lit stairway, in front of a door, two guards with him, "All you had to do was shut up and put the contingency method into effect. But no, you had to chicken out, just like your father."

On the other side of the door, the Tringham trio sat there with their wrists bound in wood, their legs in various sitting positions.

"Brother?" Fletcher turned his head curiously, legs to his chest, "What method does he mean? What is Phase 2?"

"I'd like to know that, too, Russ." Dillan added, legs crossed and his arms around them being used to keep his knees off the flour, "An awful lot, actually."

"It's simple, really." Mugear stated, as if explaining it to morons, "You introduce the Red Water to newly-pregnant women and have them drink it. Soon, the water will pass through the placenta and is biologically condense…"

The placenta is used by the body to provide nutrients for the baby and to get rid of waste. So if something happened to that then...

Russell glared and growled as Fletcher gasped, "No…." and Dillan gulped, "You don't mean…"

"SHUT UP AND STOP!" The eldest Tringham lunged forward.

"Once the process is done, you extract it it from them and then transmute it into a Stone." Mugear grinned cruelly, laughing through the bars of their window, "It's a simple, reliable and foolproof method. Let's Mother Nature do all the work."

Fletcher's eyes widened as he jumped back. Dillan hissed as he attempted to lunge forward. Russell clamped his teeth down and sweated.

"It's a shame," Mugear tusked, "you've got the same sissy streak as your father."

He turned to leave-

"WAIT!"

-only to be halted by Russell's call, which was quickly followed by, "I just want you to tell me one thing, Mugear. Did Dad ever use that method on anyone?"

"How did you even come up with something so inhuman?!" Dillan quickly added.

Mugear huffed and looked in their window again, "No. At the last minute, he weaseled out of his own method. If only he had done it, he would have saved his wretched life."

Dillan exclaimed in shock, "Uncle Nash made that method?!"

"Why you…" Russell growled, "You said Dad died from illness, that he left here alive!"

Mugear huffed and walked away, ignoring the boys' cries for him to come back, iron door falling over their window.

Foolish children.

* * *

"I'm so sorry about those three imposters stealing your identities." Mugear apologized, hands clasped together, "I, too, was completely fooled by them, I'm ashamed to say. I feel just terrible about asking this because the last thing I wanna do is add insult to injury, but seeing as how you two are among the most accomplished alchemists of our age, there is a matter that I would like to request your help with."

Edward gave the man a cool look, arms crossed as Alphonse stood to her left, "Something about Red Water research?"

"Oh, you do know about it." Mugear rejoiced, spreading his arms out and walking forwards, "That will save me spending time to explain. The truth is, I've done some research of my own." He got in front of the trio, bent down a little and clasped his hands again, "And I happen to overhear some rumors that you're greatly interested in the Philosopher's Stone."

Mugear pulled a Red Stone from his pocket and showed it off.

Edward huh-ed, as if interested. Celina snored as she slept standing up, standing to Edward's right.

"What do you think, Edward?" Mugear asked, smiling, "It was made by crystallizing the Red Water. You might call it a prototype for the Philosopher's Stone."

"So what am I supposed to do with it now?" The blonde asked, still cold.

"First of all, I want to save Xenotime." Mugear explained, inching forwards ("Bullshit." Celina murmured), "If I can regenerate the gold vein, this town can get back on it's feet again."

Edward's eyes hardened as she stopped folding her arms, "I get it, sounds, like a good cause. So, where are the imposters?"

"Huh? What?" Celina stopped sleeping, looking around excitedly, "Yeah, where are the fakes?"

"Taken care of. They're being held in an underground cell." The man explained to them.

Edward smiled, clapped, then placed a finger to the Red Stone, destroying it.

"What did you do that for?!" Mugear exclaimed in shock.

The blonde placed her hands on her hips, "I'm not interested in any unfinished goods, so we'll talk about them later." She grinned a hungry wolf's smile, "Executing the prisoners comes first. We State Alchemists aren't the type of people who forgive liars."

"Ohhh, I love executions!" Celina giggled, clapping her hands once in front of her face, "All that blood, the expressions on their faces...Ohhh," She blushed and began wiggling slightly, pressing her thighs together, "I'm beginning to get excited, just from thinking about it!"

Mugear stood back up normally, sweat dripping down his head as he watched the creepy girl, "Oh, then you're accepting my request?"

"I told you, let's take care of those pathetic kids first. With us working on it, this will be nothing." He smile turning manic, she turned her head towards Celina, "It's been a good while since I executed anyone. I'm just itching for the chance."

"And I'm just itching for the chance to see you kill someone, Edward-sama." Celina said sweetly, turning towards Edward and putting on a sexy voice, "You always look so hot in red, especially blood red." She blushed as she practically draped herself over the blonde, who wrapped two possessive arms around her, "It gets me so hot and bothered sometimes. I miss it sooo much."

"There, there now." Edward gently rubbed Celina's back, "I know it's been a while, so I'll make sure to make it well worth the wait. I'll even do that thing you love so much…"

Celina shivered, "Oh, Edward-sama, pretty please do!"

Smirking cockily and her eyes wide, Edward said, "Hey Mugear," she turned her gaze to Mugear without turned her head, "You wanna come watch?"

Mugear, who was severely freaked out by this point, reeled back a little.

"Now, now Edward-sama." The girl pouted, "You know what happened the last time you let someone near you while you were killing. Who wasn't me at least. Things were a right mess, I still don't think that dear, little boy ever recovered from the traumatic events we showered upon him."

"Uh, no thanks, I uh…" Mugear clasped his hands, chuckling awkwardly, "I'll pass on that. You can take care of it."

Edward's and Celina's manic grins turned smug as Alphonse bent down to berate them with his eyes.

Well, they got Mugear to fuck off, who cares about their methods.

* * *

Russell sat with his head in his knees, feeling pathetic. Fletcher watched out for his brother, feeling concerned. Dillan stood to the side, forcing himself to his legs as he leaned against the wall, feeling pissed.

It was a very tense atmosphere.

"Brother…" Fletcher called.

CR-LACK

The sound of the door opening caused everyone to stop their pouting and turned their attention to the door-

"Hey."

-where Celina, Edward and Alphonse were standing.

"Alphonse-san." Fletcher whispered in surprise, "What are you doing here?"

"I know who you guys are now." Edward didn't walk in to talk to them, "I heard Nash Tringham and Christy McNeil were your parents."

The trio looked up in surprise.

"What I don't know is why you'd foolishly continue his work. What were you trying to do by carrying on his research?" The Fullmetal Alchemist questioned.

Russell looked like all he would do was glare at the boy for a minute, but he softened and said, "Because… that is Dad's water, his dream. As his son, it was my duty to continue his research and see it through."

"You are such a naive bastard." Edward stated with no real anger/bite, though his words were sharp enough on their own, "You honestly think this is what he wanted? You know what the people in town are going through because of that toxic water. Your father realized it. That's why he tried to abandon his research. You can't obtain happiness by chasing your father's dream and relying on the likes of Red Water or a Philosopher's Stone!"

"Ed's right, guys." Celina spoke up, "All that cursed liquid has done is ruin lives, from the town's people to your father's. You should abandon it while you can."

Dillan snorted, "Says you. We know you're looking for the Philosopher's Stone for your own reasons, so don't act so high and mighty. I bet you want it so you can turn yourself back to normal."

The girl stared at him for a few moments, as if she were trying to figure him out, but sighed.

"You're right about us being hypocrites." She walked over to him, "The boys' want the stone to fix me up because they feel it's all their fault I'm like this." The Chimera stopped in front of him, "But let me tell you something that makes what we do different from what you guys have done." The ginger/black haired girl swiped at his restraints, reducing them to pieces. She gave him a determined stare, eyes incinerating him with their fiery determination, "We don't let people get hurt on behalf of our selfishness and turn our heads away from people's suffering. We do our best not to get others hurt and if they are damaged by our actions, we take responsibility for it. We fix it. We don't run and hide from consequences behind stupid excuses."

Dillan started into hers eyes in shock, feeling like he was glued to one place. It felt like her deep brown eyes were burning him up. He couldn't look away.

Edward smirked and clapped, "Couldn't have said it better myself, though you left out some bits." He touched the restrains, reducing them to nothing, "Live your own life. Move forward! Don't act so shamefully, stop with all the acting actually! Trying to be someone you're clearly not is stupid. You have no idea of the responsibilities that come with my title."

He turned to his companions, "Al! Cel! Let's go!"

With that, the three dashed out of the room, leaving the Tringham gang dumbstruck.

Celina then appeared, walking backwards. She smiled towards Dillan, blushing mad-

"By the way, Dillan, I think you're cute and a guy who'd be awesome to hang out with, but if you keep acting like a prick, I'll have to reconsider how dateable you are."

-she then sprinted away as fast as her legs could carry her, leaving Dillan a blushing mess. He thought he heard Russell cat calling, but he wouldn't have known.

His brain was dead.


	16. The Vow to Meet Again

_Communication: the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. Or means of sending or receiving information, such as telephone lines or letters. The key to humanity's success. Or at least, that's what I believe. I mean, think about it:_

 _Humans communicate with each other for so many reasons; to express emotions, exchange ideas, challenge each other to grow and become better, to trade and understand one another. Where would humans be if they can't communicate?_

 _At war. So many wars happened because humans refused to communicate and understand each other's feelings and thoughts. Take Ishval for example:_

 _A highly religious colony, living out in the desert independent of Amestris, with views that highly conflicted with Amestrian's gung-ho attitude of ALCHEMY IS EVERYTHING! I've known people who were on both sides of the argument. People who tried to understand and accept Amestris. People who think Ishval was being difficult._

 _Then the shooting of the Ishvalan child destroyed any chances of understanding._

 _If I'd been an Ishvalan, I would have completely savaged Amestris, screw being friendly. Or at the very least, the soldier who shot the child. Why were they walking around with guns in an unarmed civilization anyway? Why was there so much trouble with just a little bit of talking and acceptance? I have to wonder since this country is so insistent on destroying itself with war…_

 _If Ishval was truly an accident..._

* * *

Celina hid behind her palms, "OH MY FUCKING GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I FUCKING SAID THAT, OMFG, SOMEBODY KILL ME-"

"Cel!" Alphonse called, "Calm down. You just said you liked the guy, it's not like you asked him to marry you."

Celina looked like she'd be squirming if they weren't running, "BUT I'VE NEVER HAD A CRUSH BEFORE, I ONLY KNEW I EVEN HAD A CRUSH BECAUSE I READ ROMANCE NOVELS SOMETIMES AND I SEE THE WAY ED FUCKING STARES AT MUSTANG!"

"SHUT UP ABOUT ME AND MUSTANG, FOR FUCK'S SAKE, THE GUY TREATS ME LIKE A CHILD!" Edward snapped back, growling with a blush. She took a breath and turned forwards, "Now shut up, we have ta make a cool, calm, entrance before we kick Mugear's ass."

Celina blinked, "You just said ta."

"No I didn't." The blonde blinked.

Celina nodded her head, "Yes you did, it's written in your last spoken sentence above the line where I pointed it out."

"Guys, please stop breaking the fourth wall, we don't have time." Alphonse sighed.

The two nodded and with that, they were in front of the lab door where they'd left Mugear.

They could hear the arrogant fucker talking, "Who cares? As long as the research is successful, I won't have to worry. That was nothing compared to what these guys will fashion for me."

"Which guys?" Edward called, "Who are you talking about? Us?"

Mugear turned around, surprised to see Alphonse standing at the back looking tough, Edward with her arms crossed and Celina with her gloves coming off.

"There's one more thing that's bothering me." Edward continued, "Wherever did the Red Water researcher Nash Tringham go? I only ask because we may need to ask him some questions."

Mugear blinked, "Nash? Ah, his research wasn't making any progress anymore, so I fired him."

"Oh?" The blonde smiled, tone disbelieving, "You don't seem like someone so good-natured as to let someone who knows all your secrets walk away clean."

Mugear glared, "What are you implying?"

Celina scoffed, "What he's saying is cut the crap, we know you murdered Nash Tringham, or at least had someone else do it for you. We don't answer to your kind."

"I don't help murderers out, Mugear! You got that?" Edward declared, eyes hard.

Mugear's eyes burned with rage.

"Really?" He pulled some contraption from behind his back and pointed it; it was full of red water, "In that case, you're not getting out of here alive! I can use plenty of other Alchemists instead." He held up a Red Stone.

Alphonse gasped, "Another stone?!"

"There wasn't just the one?!" Celina cried.

Edward sweated, "A decent evil minion always has one back up plan, at least."

"It may not be as complete as that other one…." Mugear smirked, dropping the Red Stone. The Red Water inside the device glowed and it turned into a cannon, "but it'll do! Die!"

BANG!

WOSH!

The trio managed to roll out of the way in a scatter.

Edward stopped rolling, hand to the floor, "Are you done yet?! That all you got?!"

Mugear chuckled and produced a handful of tiny Red Stones.

"You had to ask, Elric!" Celina snapped, "You had to fucking ASK!"

Mugear laughed as he filled up his contraption, "I've still got a lot more!"

The contraption glowed and more cannon holes sprouted out of it.

"Aww crap, you're kidding!" Edward yelled, running, Alphonse on her tail.

Mugear fired in their direction, destroying the book shelves. The two reached a pillar and hid behind it. Mugear stopped firing-

"Don't you dare move."

-only to find a pistol at his head and claws at his throat.

"I prefer to take people in alive. But you know what?" Celina made her claws draw blood, "You've really pissed me off."

Mugear scowled, "I'm not done yet."

She laughed, tapping her pistol on his head again, "You sure about that? There are claws at your throat and a pistol at your head. I don't see many options for you."

"There's always the old fashioned way." Mugear murmured.

He fall backwards suddenly, forcing Celina to move out of his way if she didn't wanna get crushed. But she wasn't looking where she was going and tripped, landing on her ass. He smirked, loaded his machine again and aimed for her.

"CELINA!" The Elrics cried out.

Celina went to stand-

BANG!

-only for the dust to settle and there being no trace of her. At all.

"What?" Ed murmured behind the pillar.

Mugear blinked, when suddenly his arms were grasped by something and being pulled in a certain direction, "WHAT IS THIS?!"

Looking up, they found vines on the wall, hauling Mugear upwards and on the other end of those vines were Russell and Fletcher at a pot plant, another set of vines handing Celina off to Dillan.

Seeing an opportunity, Edward yelled, "Now, Al!"

The Elric siblings pushed the pillar they'd been hiding behind in Mugear's direction, the vines keeping him in it's path as it fell. Mugear screamed-

CRASH!

-but it fell on him anyway, shattering to pieces on impact with the ground.

Once the dust settled, Russell got up from his kneeling position with a smirk, "Ed! I do hate to interrupt, but it looks like you needed my help after all."

Edward scoffed, annoyed, "What?! Nahhh!"

Russell continued to smirk, but it softened as he turned his head, "We've given up chasing after our Dad's dream." He turned his eyes towards Edward now, "You were right. We're going to find our own way and live our own lives."

Fletcher's face lit up in joy, "Brother!"

Edward and Alphonse smirked.

Celina smiled, then turned to Dillan, "I imagine you'll keep hanging out with them?"

Dillan shrugged, "I don't know, the thought of holding you much longer is really tempting, even though my arms are getting tired."

It was then Celina realized she was still in Dillan's arms.

Blushing to the tips of her hair roots and neck, she practically bounced out of his arms, bowing in apology, stuttering out sorry after sorry in embarrassment. Dillan was blushing too, but the show was amusing so he laughed instead. Celina seemed none to happy with that, blushing as she demanded he stop laughing. The two kept bantering-

"Brother! Cel!"

-Alphonse voice cut them off and all eyes turned towards where he was looking.

Edward gasped, "A secret passage?! That bastard, he got away!"

"Let's follow him!" Celina called, "It's time for a chase!"

"Let me get the masks!" Dillan added, running off and returning a second later with enough for everyone.

Everyone nodded and ran down the steps.

* * *

The 6 kids ran down the tunnels in almost complete darkness.

"Russell, how much farther?" Edward called, his voice muffled by the mask.

"We're almost there! The spring where the Red Water comes out is just up ahead!" Russell explained, his voice also muffled by the mask.

They all suddenly stopped, a stone wall in their path.

Dillan growled, "That miserable Mugear, he blocked our path."

Celina smirked behind her mask, "Not for long. He forgot who he's dealing with."

Edward clapped, "I'm gonna drag him outta there."

Placing his hands to the wall, the boy in red reduced the stone wall to rubble-

"WHAT?!"

BANG!

-only for Mugear to be waiting for them with a cannon. They hit the walls, Russell protecting Fletcher, Celina protecting Dillan and survived the explosion.

"I'll never surrender the spring!" Mugear yelled, "As long as I have the Red Water, I can continue researching! I'm not afraid of any State Alchemist! Nothing can stop me! Least of all a diminutive Alchemist and his copy cat friends!"

"Does he ever shut up?" Celina asked.

Dillan scowled, "No."

Edward walked out from the cover he took, standing in perfect sight of the next attack.

"Ed!" Russell called.

"Brother!" Alphonse urgently hissed.

"Now you've said it, Mugear. Points for the big word, but you're still going down!" Edward declared, "Don't you mock the State Alchemists!"

He clapped again-

"Oh yeah?! DIE!" Mugear fired.

-but the wall was already well built up and protected them from the cannon's blast, even if it did crumble right after. The recoil sent everyone flying.

But Mugear was the last one to get up. Unfortunate for him.

He turned his head to see Edward standing over his fallen form, asking, "Do you see now? Even with your Stones, I'm on an entirely different level than you!"

Suddenly, tremors shook the ground, causing chips in the wall to fall.

"What's going on?" Dillan asked.

"What's that?" Mugear murmured.

"Whatever it is, I vote we don't stick around to find out!" Celina suggested.

The spring started going out of control.

"Ed! That's enough!" Russell yelled, "Let's get out of here!"

"Brother!" Alphonse screamed.

"I'll get him!" Celina dashed for the blonde moron.

"Celina!" Dillan called, reaching for her.

Celina ran over to Edward, who seemed frozen in place, watching as Mugear inched towards the spring, refusing to show them his back and give up. Red Water started bursting out of cracks in the rock by the spring, causing the frantic tugging Celina was doing on Edward's right arm to increase.

"We have to go!" Celina yelled, "EDWARD!"

That finally got them all to start running upwards again, trying to escape the over-flow of Red Water. They dashed back up the tunnel, running as fast as they could.

Russell suddenly came to a halt, along with Fletcher and then Dillan. They looked back, hearing the rushing tainted water heading their way.

"Rushing water..." Dillan said, eyes wide with fear, "The Red Water's overflowing."

Edward dashed into action, clapping his hands and pushing them to the floor, creating another stone wall, "That should hold it for now."

"But if it doesn't go up, where's it gonna go?" Celina asked.

Everyone looked between each other.

"XENOTIME!" They yelled.

They were dashing once again.

* * *

Once they broke the surface, they could already see the Red Water gushing out of the mountain side and trickling towards the mansion on the hill. Getting ever so closer to the town below.

Edward dashed off, clapped her hands and put them to the ground, creating a large bowl-like wall around the mountain. It was a good thing she made it pretty high, or it would've gone over.

She turned towards the hill, "Now, if we can just stop it from coming out, along with a drain…"

This time, Fletcher dashed off, Dillan right on his heals. They reached a tree, Dillan passed Fletcher some chalk and he drew a transmutation circle on it. He pressed his forehead to it, making it glow green, Dillan putting his hand on Fletcher's shoulder in silent support.

The green glow spread to all of the trees and they started drinking up the Red Water, turning crimson from their roots to their tips.

"The trees…" Edward looked around in astonishment, "They're absorbing the Red Water."

Celina looked around in amazement, "This is incredible."

"Brother, there was something like this in the lab, too." Alphonse recalled.

Edward turned to Russell, "That's right. You had them absorb the Red Water to detoxify it?"

Russell didn't supply an answer. Instead, he went over to his brother and put his hand over his, offering his own energy for the transmutation.

Fletcher looked at his brother in soft joy, "Brother… It works..."

Russell smiled back, nodding.

Dillan grinned, peeking over his shoulder.

Fletcher nodded.

The two brothers made the transmutation circle reaction much stronger, glowing bigger and brighter than before, Dillan supporting his cousins with a hand on each of their shoulders. The red trees grew taller and more of the Red Water was sucked into them, out of the bowl Edward had made.

It was amazing.

"Those guys did it. They pulled through. Well-done." Edward murmured, surrounded by the stunning red trees, her jacket nearly disappearing into it.

The two brothers smiled at each other again, the reaction done and Dillan hugged them both. They all laughed, but then they turned back to the tree.

Fletcher whispered, "Thanks, trees. Sorry about this."

The brothers started the reaction again and this time, the trees turned blue, shifting into each color between. Then, like fragile ice, the trees all shattered into tiny pieces, blue snowflake-like specks in the wind.

They wanted the blue specks float away with smiles on their faces.

* * *

By sunset, it was time for our heroes to get back on their way to East City, where their comrades awaited their return.

And Dillan was nervous as fuck.

"Take these. They're from Uncle Belsio." Elisa smiled, offering them a basket of lemons.

Celina took them with a smile, "Thanks a lot, Elisa. I'm so glad to see you're doing better now."

Elisa held her hands in front of her, "Big Brothers, Big Sister, take care. And stay outta trouble."

"Yeah and come see us again." Fletcher requested.

"Sure, we'll come again!" Alphonse promised.

"Really, promise?" Elisa asked.

"Okay, let's do a parting handshake!" Celina suggested.

"Okay!" Elisa and Fletcher perked up.

Edward turned towards Russell, "You sure you can make it in this town?"

"We'll accept whatever's coming to us." Russell stated, "Belsio wants us to work with him, since my Alchemy will be useful." His face turned grim, "Ed, are you still going to search for the Philosopher's Stone after this?"

Edward blinked in shock. He looked at the others; Fletcher, Elisa and Alphonse shaking hands in some overly exaggerated way while Celina giggled. Dillan found it really, really cute. He had to fucking do something or he'd miss his chance.

Edward smiled and looked back at Russell, "Yeah."

"If you want, I tell you how to condense a Red Stone?" Russell suggested.

Edward blinked, "What? Why?"

Dillan blinked at his best friend.

"It's not so much out of apology," Russell explained, "it's just that I think you deserve to know."

Edward stared, blinking a few times, then smiled softly, "Thanks a lot Russell, but no thanks. We don't need that stuff. We'll find the real thing on our own. Count on it."

Fletcher turned his attention to Edward, "You'll see, Ed! Please come again! When you come to visit, we're sure to make this town better!"

"When you do, Big Brother Ed, be taller, okay?" Elisa smiled, "Or I'll be taller than you!"

"What? Why you!" Edward jokingly complained, shaking a fist, "That wasn't very nice! Show a little respect for your elders!"

The younger ones and Celina laughed at that and Dillan knew it was now or never.

"So, when they come back, you'll come back too, right?" Dillan asked her.

Celina met his eyes, blushing as she nodded, "You bet. I expect you to not be as much of a prick as you were before by then."

"How about I promise to have cleaned up my act by the time I get to East City in about… a week? For a date with you, maybe?" Dillan offered.

Celina's entire face had gone red, "A-ar-are you as-aski-asking **me** out?"

Dillan nodded, feeling his own face flush.

She appeared completely speechless, "I-I, I ummm, well, ya see-"

"Visit East City Command once you're in town, ask for Mustang's Unit, say you're a friend of Celina's." Edward cut in, "We'll give you a tour of the city and a talking to about treating our bestie right!"

"Then we'll arrange the time and place since Celina can never remember any of those details no matter how many times someone reminds her." Alphonse stated, "It'll be her first date, so be nice."

Celina's face got even redder, "I'm right here, guys, how dare you plan my first date without my consultancy?!"

"I will." Dillan nodded. He smiled at Celina and winked at her, "See you in East City then, Celina?"

She blinked and smiled shakily, waving, "Yeah, se-see you there."

The train's whistle blew and with that, they were off. They waved goodbye until the train was out of sight, then Dillan crumbled to the floor in a pile of gew, Celina's face flooding and fogging up his mind and dreams as the Tringhams dragged him back to Belsio's place.


End file.
